Tough As A Diamond
by redheadclover
Summary: She was dumped at the prison for being a metahuman, harnessing the ability to have diamond skin and bones. After feeling neglected by her past and her family, Amanda Waller hires her to work for her and with Task Force X. Although she's not villian, she's feeling out of place, even with a certain ex-gang member turning his eyes to her. ((Diablo X OC))
1. Chapter 1

**Belle Reve Penitentiary**

 **Louisiana**

"Chow time, inmate. Come grab it."

I looked up from the corner of my cell and over to the cell door that was blocking me from my freedom. It was another day at the prison, another day for me to grab food and just go about my merry way. I have forgotten how long I was there for, and if I was getting older since the days would go on forever. But this was my home, whether I liked it or not.

What a great home I guess.

I got up from the ground I was sitting at, walking over with my bare feet on the floor and reached for the plate of uneatable food that they were giving us. I looked through the window and I saw the guard that was giving me the food: Griggs.

"Because of your good behavior for the past week or so, they're letting you have outside privileges hear the east yard," He explained to me as I took the tray in both of my hands and I didn't say a single word about. He didn't sound at all pleased about the fact that I was given some kind of freedom, "It's not my fist choice, Shiny. But let's be honest, you're the nice one I guess."

"Thanks?" I asked, seeing him roll his eyes.

"Shut up," He replied, closing the small opening on me and having me stand there with my tray in silence. This was normal: eating food, going to the bathroom and then sleeping. I've been doing this for quite some time and I didn't know why I deserved to be here. Wait, I did know why,

Because I'm a Metahuman.

I was dumped here by my family because they didn't know what else to do with me. I'm sure they had good intentions of keeping me there in one piece and keeping me away from the rest of the word, but it sure didn't feel that way from my standpoint. It felt worse, like a betrayal or a stab in the heart. I've always wondered since they dumped me here if that were ever to sleep at night with the thought I was gone and out of their hair. Were they able to sleep? Who knew, I didn't, but I haven't spoken to them since and I doubt I ever will.

Good for them.

Luckily for me, I was on good terms with the prison here. Mteahumans were sent here, since no other prisons wanted them or could take them. That's where I would fit it naturally. There are others here who aren't so lucky, the villains really. They were sent here because they are pure evil, according to the guards and other metahuman prisoners here. They're the ones who we should be afraid of, causing trouble in the world and in cities. Of course, we have people like Batman or the Flash to take care of them, they were the good guys.

But what about the rest of us? The ones in the middle.

I never did anything bad, not really. I was accused of plenty of things because of my ability and what I could do, but I knew I wasn't bad or a villain. It was just up to society and what they thought of me. Some of us were seen as Gods, take Superman for instance, but others were seen like monsters.

I didn't know where I was fitting in with those categories just yet.

Here I was in my later 20's, locked away in a prison that wanted us away from the world, and I only thought this was how my life was going to go from now on and nothing else was going to change. All I had left from my previous life, was the fact that I two distinct scars on my face.

Representing the past that I never wanted to open again.

* * *

I blinked a few times when I went outside in the REC yard, hearing a few birds here and there that were flying by overhead and I looked behind me to see them close the gates behind me and I could feel the heat of the thick Louisiana sun and air soak under my skin. I breathed it in, the musk of the bayou nearby and the clouds overhead overcame though the smell of the stench of other prisoners, amongst other things. I had one hour out here by myself to just breathe in and out, to feel the sun on my skin

It was nice, at least for a small while.

I closed my eyes, feeling the sense of my powers coming over me one again like it was a blanket shielding me from the world. Rolling up my sleesv to show some of the tattoos that I had were along my skin and the tops of my fingers made thme look lgiht comapred to when I was back in my cell. I could feel my skin crystallizing a bit now from what I was about to do with my own hands and some of my face. When I had time, my powers would take over and show more of a side for me than ever before.

In short: I would turn into a diamond.

Since I was little my own hand would resemble a diamond, from the tips of my fingers down to my elbow and even close to my shoulders. There was no real explanation to this and as to why this happened to me, but I always found it fascinating when I was younger. I was finally able to look beautiful since my own self-esteem was a bit shot with my curvy body, freckles skin, and wide green eyes.

But this made me look so different, and whenever it would be in effect, my eyes would be the first to change. They went from the green that I had to a crystal white almost blue look, intensifying and my skin would change, along with everything else within my body. I was a walking and talking diamond, which turned plenty of heads once or twice before I knew I had to conceal it.

It was both a blessing and a curse.

I held out my hand to the sun, seeing my hand crystalize there and the sun beaming through the edges and the cut of my hand there, almost showing the whole area a brand new light and bring a sense of brightness within my own time there. I saw how clear my hand looked, a tint of blue along with the light of rainbows that were shown across my face from the diamond hand there in the reflection of the sun. I would look at it for hours, thinking of how beautiful it looked and yet how cursed it was as well. I could feel some of my own face turning as well, the hardness of the surface along my neck and ascending to my cheeks and face too as I just breathed, trying to one again think of nothing but the positives that were there in my life in that prison. I was alive, I was away from my family.

I was just in another version of hell.

I looked over to one of the hallways that had wide open windows to look into, having me see that they were escorting someone over to his cell. I knew that he was going over to the section where they were keeping the highly dangerous metahumans and villains, where we would rarely go ourselves. That was not a place to be, they weren't treated as well as the rest of us really and they were looked at lower than scum. I knew all about that, I really did know about that, but the person that they were escorting.

His hands were handcuffed in front of him, almost in a fashion that there was a chest piece and his hands were placed there in cuffs as if they were a added need of protection. Otherwise, he was wearing his orange jumpsuit with the sleeves rolled up a bit, but that was not the one thing that I saw and made me with him on intrigue.

His tattoos. All over his body.

They were interesting tattoos, all on his face and along his arms, almost having him look like some kind of canvas really that someone could interpret for themselves. I instantly thought that he was a gang member for how they looked on him, with his muscular arms and there was no hair on his head that had tattoos of a skeleton. For some reason, I couldn't look away from him and in how he was walking, almost in a shallow way of stepping like he was not hard at all. Sure he looked hard from the inside out in how he was stone-faced and looking dead on, but in how he was walking seemed more innocent and uncertain.

He looked out of place.

But he looked over in my direction, seeing through the window over at me while I was standing there in the REC squared off area and standing alone with one hand in the air and the other at my side. Did he see my crystalized hand and face? How could he not, since I was pretty much twinkling in the sunlight that was beaming down at me. I must have looked lost since he looked more intrigued with me than anything as he walked by. I finally saw something that seemed soft about him as he walked with the two guard behind him: HIs eyes. They were so bright and clear compared to his face tattoos, a bright brown that would remind me of the bark of trees or even chocolate.

They were beautiful eyes.

"Come on, Inmate. REC time's over."

* * *

Three knocks were on the door were heard as I opened one eye from sitting there on the cot and having some more alone tie with just my thoughts in my head. These knocks on the door sounded a bit more urgent than anything, having me wonder if I did something wrong, yet again it's been running trident that I would be blamed for something in my life because of my ability.

I heard the small door opening abruptly, having me peer out with my eyes and stay away a bit now in case it was some kind of trick or I was about to be tazed. It wouldn't be the first time, and I felt like it was going to happen again. But instead of seeing a regular guard, I saw someone else whom I never saw before. It was a young man, almost my age with a thinning face that had some damage to it from any kind of past and some facial hair. He was wearing some kind of army uniform, that much I could see, and a regular hat with e American Flag on the top.

"You Inmate Talbert?" He asked me in an almost thick accent from somewhere in the south, in which I slowly nodded my head and he eyed me up and down.

"My boss would like to have a word with you."

* * *

I was sitting in an interrogation room there, both of my hands were handcuffed to the table in front of me as I was sitting in a metal chair, wondering what was going on and who was wanting to talk to me. It felt a bit cold there in that solid room with the single light above me and the big mirror on my left.

Finally, the door opened, having me look over to see the young man from earlier and another woman come into the room before the door was closed behind it. The woman was older than me, a bit short too. She was a black woman with short hair and was wearing business type of attire including a skirt and heels, in her hand was my file. I knew it was my file, it was pulled up plenty of times in the past when they were watching me. I wondered what she wanted with it.

She sat down across from me, the young man behind her with a gun on his hip and was watching my every move as the woman placed my file there in front of me softly, having me only hear my breathing in the room and her shuffling the papers a bit so that she could see. I was watching her face, seeing that she was a bit cold and almost all about business and work ethic. it was a bit frightening.

"Your name is Rose Talbert, 29 years old, born and raised in New Orleans in an upper-class white family and was dropped off here by said family 5 years ago, is that correct?" she was reading it like she was reading off the laundry list and it looked like it was nothing. I slowly nodded my head, seeing her watch me and fold her hands there on top of my file.

"I'm Amanda Waller, the man behind me is named Rick Flagg," She introduced the both of them, having me look from her to the young man briefly before she went on, "I came here to have a talk with you and your ability."

"What about it?" I asked her curiously since that was something I didn't think she would be talking about.

"I've seen my fair share of metahumans in my line of work, but none of them are quite as unique and rare as you," She said, looking down at my file there for a brief second, "It says here that 'subject's body changes into the form of a diamond'. I'm assuming that it is true for the in that case, or I must have been seeing things when I was observing you out on the yard earlier today," It made me panic a bit that she saw me out there with my abilities, so I knew then I couldn't lie to her at all about it. So I just sat there, seeing my file once again on the table and seeing her lean over a bit towards me as if she was intrigued with me.

"I have a proposition for you, Rose Talbert."


	2. Chapter 2

**New Orleans, Louisana**

 **Algiers District**

 **Age 5**

"She's not like the other kids, Mary! She's a freak!" I was sitting there in my bedroom, holding my plush toy close to my chest and hearing the loud yelling from the other side of the door in the hallway. I knew they were talking about me, and why they were was the mystery. I just got back from school and they found another note in my backpack from the teacher about me showing my crystalized hand there to some of the kids during recess.

Needless to say, it was not taken lightly in my house.

"She's a child, Jackson! Our child, how dare you for calling her something like that!" My mother was trying to convince my own father that I was fine, that what I had inside of me was some kind of gift. But for an adult to try and comprehend that their child is different from others, it would be hard for them. It was hard for both of my parents, but my mother knew that it was a gift. My father, on the other hand, he wasn't swayed so lightly.

"Come on, Mary. You and I both know that she can't be around kids doing something like that! People will talk, people to ask questions about her and how she's so different and not normal at all. They will come to us and look at us differently! What will the neighbors say?" My father asked with venom in his voice.

"Who cares what they say about her?!" My mother was yelling at this point now, and I could feel another wave of sadness coming over me and making em feel and that I was making them yell. it was I that did this, that made them hate each other, and almost hate me in return.

My hand that was clutching the plush toy was crystallizing again, the diamond look of my hand there was against my plush toy and I looked down, now no longer seeing it as something that is beautiful and unique to see, but something ugly and hateful. This was making people not be happy, so why should I look at it anymore? I looked away from it, closing my eyes and wishing that it would all go away and not come back.

I hated myself.

* * *

 **Belle Reve Petitionary**

 **Lousiana**

 **Present Day**

"You want me to what?" I asked her, hoping that she would repeat so I knew that my hearing was good and right, not making a mistake.

"I want you to join our team," She explained calmly there, sitting and waiting for some kind of answer from me as I looked from her to Rick Flagg now, seeing him watch me too and show no real inserts in the whole conversation. She must have been crazy, almost off of her rocker since she was asking me to join some kind of secret top mission team that she was cooking up. But the thing about it that threw me off, was that fact that the people she was hiring for the group were all villains.

Supervillains to be fair.

"I'm not a villain," I said in a statement to her.

"I know you're not, you have one of the cleanest records here in the facility, which is why I was more intrigued in picking you and joining our team," She explained, in which I shifted in my chair and eyed him suspiciously.

"But it still doesn't make sense for me to join you guys. All I want to do is live in here in peace," I explained to her, seeing her almost look at me in a scoff fashion.

"In peace? Here, of all places?" She asked me almost sarcastically, in which I glared at her.

"Look, I didn't ask to be placed here. I was thrown in here without any real kind of job now was it?" I asked her in almost a challenge, a bit of venom in my voice since it felt like she was not understanding what was going on in my own life. Flagg took a step forward, his hand on the pistol on his hip and I saw him giving me a signal with his own stance eyes.

Calm down or I'll shoot you.

"Miss Talbert, I know your whole background, better than most of the guards here to be clear. I know where you're coming from and how life's not being the kindest to you, and believe me, I know a bit how that feels," She explained as I eyed her and flexed my fingers there against the table where I was still shackled to, "However, I know you can still do some good with this ability you have. The group I'm getting together are villains, yes, but they are working for less on their life sentences in exchange for working for me."

"What do I get out of all of this?" I asked her calmly now, seeing him slowly smile at me with a small smile of satisfaction like she already won this talk with me and I agreed to be working for her. She grabbed a single piece of paper there on the top of my file, pushing it over to where I was able to read it and I looked down at the paper that was typed out. Ir head through it, seeing line by line and then my eyes were getting bigger and bigger now from what it was telling me. It had to be some kind of joke, it really had to be now.

"You work for me, and I grant you your freedom from the prison."

* * *

 **3 Hours Later**

"Come with me," Rick Flagg explained to me now as we were talking out in the main yard, after being transported away from the prions for the first time in 5 years. The Military personnel were left and right and they were running around at a frantic pace. Already, when I said yes, Amanda told me that they were already getting ready for ambitions that just erupted in the MidWay City, so I was already thrown into the whole situation without a second thought to it. Flagg had to go over to some of the doctors that were waiting for me with some kind of injection in my neck, which hurt like hell when I did it. I asked him what it was for, but he said that he was going to explain that later with the whole group.

Great.

I wore my orange prison uniform with the top button undone sine it was far too hot, showing a bit of my tattoo that I had there on the collarbone that was a beautiful diamond. I walked behind him like an obedient puppy as we were back outside in the whole yard, some of the group that I was going to work with were already standing there waiting for Rick to hear him what they were going to do. But I looked over his shoulder to see who would be there, a pit was already being made in my stomach there seeing them all.

The Villains.

They were clad in their orange uniforms, like me. Some of them I remember seeing on TV every once in awhile when I was in the jail, walking by them with a guard behind me and seeing them on the TV monitors for the other guards to see. But now they were talking to each other and not liking being out here and not knowing what was going on. I was kind of in the same boat as them, but I still felt very out place there and not knowing what to expect from them. Amanda wanted me to work with them? With villains? Was she out of her mind?

I was about to find out.

They all saw me behind Flagg, I could see all of their eyes and how they were watching me like I was some kind of fresh meat to their party of villains. I knew some of them: Captain Boomerang when he would rob jewelry stores and banks, and Harley Quinn who was linked to the Joker and was just as crazy as him. But then another one was one that I didn't know, taller and more gruff in his stance as he was watching me more with intrigue than with a threatening look. Another being looked more like a walking talking crocodile with scales and reptiles eyes and teeth that were sinister and glistening in the light there from the sun. I didn't know how to feel. But then the last one that I saw almost made me loose breath.

And the other was the tattooed inmate. Him?

He looked out of sorts too, like he would coil up in a ball if he could as he watched me with almost wide eyes like he was shocked that I was there with the rest of the lot. I watched him too, not understand why he was there with the villains. Was he a villain too? I had to remember that he was since I saw him walking down that way back to the prison, but still, it felt off to see him there and I didn't even know him.

"Here comes Slipknot, the man who can climb anything. Wonderful" I heard Flagg say out loud as another black car pulled up from the side, having me look over too and see the car come to a stop, someone being pulled out by two marshalls and the man then punching the female. All he said was one thing as he was being contained:

"She had a mouth."

I gasped, now officially seeing that this was a very bad idea now as he was brought over to be with the rest of the villains in front of Flagg and I saw him finally speak up to the rest of the group there.

"Listen up! Inside your necks, the explosive you got: it's a nanite explosive. It's the size of a rice grain but it's as powerful as a hand grenade. You disobey me, you die. You try to escape, you die. You irritate me or vex me…and guess what? You die," he explained to them shortly now as then Harley Quinn rose her hand from where she was sitting with some of the soldiers around her.

"I'm knowing to be quite vexing, I'm just forewarning you…"

"Lady, shut up!" He yelled at her, seeing her pout and lower her hand now with a glare at him and he then looked at the group of them, "This is the deal. You're going somewhere very bad do something that will get you killed. But until that happens, you're my problem," I could hear it in how he was saying it to them, he had some kind of hate radiating off of him and he was shoving it back at them in full force. I wondered if that was the best idea to do that in front of a bunch of supervillains.

"So was that kind of a pep talk?" the tall gruffed man asked, rubbing his ear and sounding sarcastic.

"Yeah, that was a pep talk." Flagg replied shortly, "Grab what you need for the flight. We're wheel's up in ten."

"You might wanna work on your team motivation thing. You ever heard of Phil Jackson?" The man asked again now.

"Yeah."

"He's like the gold standard, 'kay? Triangle bitch. Study." The man replied, making a triangle with his hand as Flagg looking at him up and down and moved away from him. Within a second he then pointed to me as I was still standing back a bit with the other military men, pointing behind at me now.

"This is Inmate Talbert, a metahuman inmate here. She is working with us on this mission, and you do anything to her, I will kill you without a second Goddamn thought. She has a contract with your boss, and she will not be harmed on this mission by either our enemy or you, understand?" The group looked at me now with curious eyes, some of them were giving me curious looks and others were finding it amusing I was feeling the same way too since I felt so out of place there as Captain Boomerang spoke up.

"What can you do, Luv?" He asked me with some cockiness there in her tone and was wiggling his eyebrows at me with his grin, "You're far too innocent to be here with us roughies."

"You're not going to vex her either," Flagg wanted, Boomerang eyed him then with a glare on his face as the taller guff man spoke up.

"No offense man, but if she's going to help us out here and she's not a villain, we would really like to know what she can do so we don't have to babysit her." I knew that someone here at the group would be pissed that I was here, and I felt like they were going to have to babysit me or what have you. he was right in that end: they wanted to see what I could do and If I was supposed to be here.

Flagg looked over at me, having me watch him and silently ask if I should show time what I could do. He nodded his head, having me breathe out slowly and feel my crystalizing mode come over me, slowly and surely like spiders crawling on my skin. It was staring at my chest, near my heart which is where it would start and then slowly morph out and all over my skin, taking over me within a few seconds. Their eyes on me the whole time were slow lying getting bigger in shock and intrigue now as I was half human - half diamond now. Some of it was on my face and my eyes were already in the crystal blue, some of my arms were covered along my shoulders and near my collarbone.

"Her diamond form makes her indestructible, so shooting her won't kill her if you're thinking you can get away with it," Flagg explained as I was showing some of my own powers there for all of them to witness and to digest, "She can carry more weight than a good amount of you, and she knows how to defend herself. So like I said, you mess with her, or she dies, I will kill each of you." They were no longer intrigued with me but had some sense of intimidation and almost me being at their level now. I was no longer just a regular person that could be a hazard for them: I was almost one of them.

"Pretty fancy stuff there," Harley Quinn said to me in her cheery tone, eyeing me up and down with her wide smile and intriguing eyes.

"Get your gear. Talbert, you're with me. I have stuff for you to wear," Flagg explained to me as the other broke off to find their belongings in big tubs around the place. I followed Flagg, some of my diamond form going back to normal now as I walked and looked over my shoulder to see the tattooed inmate watch me carefully as he was standing so still there, not moving as the others were getting ready. I looked back for a quick second, once again locking eyes with him before I looked ahead once more and walking away. Thinking again of his tattoos, how beautiful they are.

Beautiful and Damaging.


	3. Chapter 3

**8 Years Ago**

 **"** You sure you want this, youngin'?" I was sitting in the tattoo parlor chair late one night and I was watching the artist there, needle in hand and it was already buzzing, ready for use. It was one in the morning, I had a few beers in me but I wasn't close to being drunk, I could hear the mass music off in the distance and some of the people walking to and fro on the street. I had a few friends in there in the parlor, watching me do this recent dare that they threw on me and thought I wouldn't do go through with it. But I knew I had them good when I agreed without a blink or an eye.

I felt as thought I needed to do something that was a good change for me in what was going on in my life, a new fixation that wasn't going to treat me lower than dirt. This was what I needed, something to both feel the pain that I was still alive and to show that this was not going to hurt me.

"Do it,"

"Let me see that shit," I moved the collar out of the way, showing the diamond tattoo on the back of my neck and the neat handwriting that read Stay Gold. I thought it looked perfect, beyond perfect and one of my friends named Stacy giggled in delight.

"That looks legit, Rose! You have bigger balls than my boyfriend!" She said in a snort as her boyfriend, Travis slapped her along her ass.

"Hey!" He retorted.

"It's true, babe. You can't do something like that!" She replied, pointing to my new tattoo as we walked down the street in the nightlife of New Orleans. I smiled, breathing in the sweat of the streets and the alcohol that was still in the air and the music flooding the night from the plenty of nightclubs and bars.

"What made you do a diamond?" He asked, having me pause a bit to look over at him. I told none of them of what I could do since I was strong enough in my own ability to be able to not have it be thrown out into the blue. I could control it, bring it out when I wanted or disappear when I wanted. It was a matter of thought control and breathing, along with keeping myself calm and collected. But for them to know that part of me, that wasn't supposed to be in the cards. I was too nervous to do something like that, let alone thinking that I would be taken away for some reason. With the news blaring about metahumans and their dangers to society, that would not be a pleasant conversation starter.

"I just like diamonds."

* * *

 **2 Hours Later**

"How long were you out for?" My dad asked me, looking over at me now as we were standing there in the hallway after he saw me being dropped off by Stacey and I walked over to go into the house. Apparently, he waited up for me and wanted to meet me at the door in his pajamas, and I knew I was going to have some kind of fight coming since his breath was drenched in alcohol, far worse than usual. Recently he's been trying to find a way to fight with me, either it's been layoffs at his jobs, or jut his own marriage with my mom failing day by day. My mom, God rest her soul, was still wanting to fix it and keep me close enough within reach to protect me from him.

But sometimes I was on my own.

"For a few hours, dad," I reassured him, seeing the anger there in his eyes now as he was watching me and the blurriness there on his face. He hated me, I knew that he hated me for being a metahuman and for being different, I was not the daughter that he wanted nor was I ever going to be. I was going to get the blunt of his beatings and hate with his eyes and words. I learned to roll with him, not to fight back since it was better for me to be older and run as fast as I could. I was still willing to stay for my mother's sake, but that was it.

"Don't you dare lie to me!" He growled, his slurred voice was still low on the bass and was venomous now.

"I'm not, dad," I reassured him now, leveling my own voice and seeing the boiling of his age about to come over him within seconds, his hand raised and he punched me hard into the wall. I was used to his beatings, I knew they were coming sometimes.

But this time, I didn't see the beer bottle in his hand when he punched me.

* * *

 **Present Day**

"Won't fit anymore? Too much junk in the trunk?"

"Nah, Everytime I put this on, somebody dies."

"And?"

"I like putting it on."

The clothes that they gave me were more military than anything else, compared to the rest of Suicide Squad. I had a pair of military pants, boots, a black underarm shirt that was short sleeved and a military vest over my shirt and fingerless gloves that fit me perfectly. I felt like I was more of a soldier now, which bothered me since it didn't feel right in my opinion. But this was far better than me wearing my prison clothes that I was used for the past 5 years. before I placed the fingerless gloves on my left hand, I looked down at my palm, seeing the diamond that I tattooed there on the skin and I felt as though I was conflicted, walking a very thin line with what I was about to do: Aid villains.

I could hear thier conversaation as they were talking together like this was some kind of mixture and they were getting to know each other. At least it felt like it to me as I watche dcarefully from a distance, though it was a bit harder to hear since I was hearing other conversations, but I could hear enough.

"Hey, what's that crap on your face, does it wash off?" Boomerang asked the Tattooed man in wonder and in almost a tease, holding his own weapons there and waving thme around like they were a part of his body.

"Hey ya'll might wanna leave old boy alone. He could torch this whole joint. Ain't that right _ese_?" Deadshot asked him then, trying to have the tohers elave him be as I looked down at my palm there, seeing the tatoo and thinking about what I was going to be capable of doing myself really. It felt like I had nothing to tell them, at least not anything interesting. It was already hard enough to be a metahuman, but to be one and helping villian was worse.

"That a tattoo?"

It was a thick accent, but it was warm at the same time, I froze there hearing it behind me as I looked over to see who it was that spoke up. It was the tattooed inmate, peering at my diamond in the palm of my hand. He looked interested in it, like one artist looking at the work of another. I looked down at my tattoo immediately covering it up with my fingers since it felt a bit foolish to have it out in the open. But I could see in his face, how his own tattoos were moving against his skin and in the sun, he wasn't going to do anything to me as I stood there with him a bit close to me.

"Yeah," I replied, seeing him look over at me with his warm brown eyes. A couple of others walked over to me now, with their own attire on as I stood there in an awkward manner, not thinking of what I should do in that position. The only one that wasn't there was the crocodile man, whom as hunched over his things in his own tub and was going through it with his clawed fingers. The tattooed inmate walked away then, like he didn't want to be in the mass group of them and wanted to be on his own before I could even ask him about his own, or just talk to him, in general, to see who he was.

"What's with the diamond tattoos? Is that some kind of kinky thing you have then?" Boomerang asked, once again sound too cheesy for his own good.

"Goddamn dude, can you get your own head straight for once?" Deadshot asked in a snort to him, Boomerang shrugging his shoulders with his big grin and rearranging his big jacket that he had one.

"You both ain't classy enough for her tattoos, ain't that right dollface?" Harley asked me in her wicked grins as she was in her own clothes, too revealing and too much in general for my taste. I didn't know how else to react to her but to nod and she giggle, the giggle itself almost sounded a bit too sinister for my liking.

"Tattoos, if you do 'em right, can tell ya plenty of a person," She explained to the boys there with a smirk there, "Homeboy over there can tell us plenty of his woes of life from just lookin' at his face," I looked to see the inmate that she was talking about, the one that she called Homeboy He was alone there, looking at what seemed to be his old gang jacket.

"What did ya do in get in that joint?" Deadshot asked me, having me eye him now as I moved my hair from my eyes and grabbed the spare bandana I asked from Flagg to move to place around my hair.

"Not a Goddamn thing," I replied smoothly, seeing him raise his eyebrows at me now as Boomerang nodded.

"People don't like metahumans, none of them, mate. Ain't ya heard?" He asked Deadshot as Deadshot looked over at him now, "They throw them prisons. Not reason, mate."

"Then there are people like us, too damn evil to run amok," Harley purred as she walked away from me, Boomerang joining her and Deadshot watching me for another moment two before he walked away too. I thought about that recent conversation that I just had with some villains as if they were meeting another persona t the bar. They weren't threatening me, still testing the waters with me sure, but they didn't see me as either a threat or prey. Did they see me on the same level playing field? I had no idea.

I moved over a bit from my spot to walk back to the middle of the area where I knew we were going to move out, seeing the tattooed inmate standing there and watching me carefully now as he then pointed back to my hand again, his jacket on him making him look a bit more muscular with his white beater on underneath and baggy pants with white shoes.

"Whoever did that did a good job on it," He commented, almost in a huff now as I looked down at my hand, slowly opening it up again to see the tattoo and I nodded.

"Pedro at the shop does a good job," I replied softly to him, not wanting to sound hard myself.

"Where did you get it done?" He asked me, taking another step over in a small sound like he was nervous just talking to me in general.

"Mid City Voodoux, over in New Orleans," I explained, seeing him nod his head as I placed my glove on and he motioned with his head over to all of my diamond tattoos that I had here and there along my skin.

"You like diamonds I take it?" He asked seeing them there and I nodded one again.

"I learned to embrace what I have, show it off without been seen," I explained, watching him study me and almost accept it, but was still a bit moved from how I said it. I did learn, later on in life, that what I had was not going to go away anytime soon, so better embrace it in any way that I could rather than pushing it away and calling it quits and hating it.

"What's your name?" I asked him, seeing him pause from the question like he wasn't seeing that one coming from me.

"Why you wanna know?" He asked me, almost suspiciously, having me think that I overstepped it with him and wasn't going to be interesting in talking to me. I nodded, shoving my hands in my pockets then and was walking away from him.

"Forget it," I replied to him, seeing him watch me now as I moved past him to head back with the rest of the group. it made me feel foolish to just go up and talk to him, not even knowing more about him and why he was a villain in the firs place. It felt like the rest of them were meant to be villains, with him thought it felt like he didn't belong here. He might have looked it, but something in how he spoke or in how he carried himself seemed less threatening and calmer. I walked over to the line of the villains as Rick Flagg spoke to us.

"Behold the voice of God," I looked over to see Rick Flagg holding out an iPad and a screen image coming up, the image of Amanda Waller. I watched her now as she was facing us all in a line

"For those of you who don't know me officially, my name is Amanda Waller. There is an event in Midway City. I want you to enter the city, rescue HVT1 and get them to safety," He explained on the screen with her stone face there in place.

"I'm sorry, uh," Deadshot said in a stammer, "For those of us who don't speak good guy, what's HVT1?"

"The only person that matters in the city, the one person you can't kill. Complete the mission you get time off your prison sentences, fail the mission you die. Anything happens to Colonel Flagg and I will kill every single one of you. Inmate Talbert that you recently met is under my protection and care, something happens to her, you all die too." Some of them looked over at me as I was looking at the iPad now, seeing myself going a bit frozen from the inside out now.

"Remember I'm watching. I see everything," She was then clicked off the iPad and Rick placed it at his side.

"There's your pep talk," He said to Deadshot in a deadpanned face.

"So that's it? We're some kind of suicide squad?" He asked him now, unmasked as to what was ahead of us as Rick walked past him with his other soldiers.

"I'll notify your next of kin."

Wonderful.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:**

I hope I'm doing okay with the story. I don't want it to go too fast or make it too light. Let me know if I need to add anything or make it better! I've made it lovely and good for Rose and Chato, I promise

A Review or Two would be great!

* * *

 **Tulane Medical Center**

 **New Orleans, Louisiana**

 **8 Years Ago**

"Let me see, chere," I moved over to have her see the damage to my eye, the heart monitor there along the wall was beeping away to show that I was healthy and just fine. But there I was int he hostile bed early in the morning with a gash there along my right eye, some slashed there from the beer bottle that got into my skin there near my eye. It was still stinging near my face, the drugs that they gave me to calm me down from the pain, and there was my mother fretting over it after she saw me bleeding out on the floor.

My father, nowhere to be seen.

Apparently, he wandered off to the backyard while my mother was taking me to the hospital, not even caring that I was going there. I wondered what my mother was thinking about when they were doing the surgery on me and getting the glass out of my face. Thankfully, since I had that ability that was making me tougher than usual, the surgery went fine. They pumped me with drugs, though I knew I didn't need a single drop of it.

I still had to play the part.

"Goodness, child," My mother cooed at me as she touched the corner of my face, having me squint and move away from her in a fraction of a second. There were two distinct stitches there on my cheek and along the skin, having me realize that they were going to be scarred later in life and I had to live through it. She saw what I did, and I didn't want it to be far too obvious, but now that it happened, she started to cry. Tears were falling so gracefully on her aged face as I watched her, saying nothing since I felt like she was now catching on to what was going o with me and my own father.

She knew. It clicked in her head.

"I'm so sorry my love," She said to me now in a worried tone now as she was almost about to sob then from having it all make sense in her head. I didn't want her to feel this way, to think that this was all her fault for letting this happen. I knew that it would be the guilt that would kill her in the end, both inside and out and that was the last thing the I wanted for her. She was far too kind for something like that.

"It's not your fault, mama," I reassured her, but she shook her head.

"I should have stopped it from the moment I knew it was going wrong. It's not right for him to do something like this to you. He hasn't been your father for years, and it's been all my fault." She said in short gasps from her crying, having me breathe out slowly and see her hide her face in her hands in defeat and sorrow.

"It's because I'm different, mama," I explained to her, seeing her slowly look up at me now and having me see the serious look on my own face. She had to hear it from me, not just play around it and make it seem like it was another day for the both of us, "He hates me, he doesn't like be being different." She was drinking it all in now, hearing it come out of me finally after os many years of me trying to convince her that this would be a disaster for everyone around me if they knew what kind of person I was. She was trying to me optimistic about his whole thing, light-hearted and pure about me being different. But now I think it was about to change.

"I'm leaving him," I looked at her in shock now since that new revelation came over her and into her brain, saying it like it was set in stone and permanent, "I won't illiterate him doing that to my child anymore."

"Mama…" I started but she shook her head.

"No butts about it, Chere," She explained, having em go silent now as she breathed out slowly and looked at me dead in the eye, "I have thought about it for awhile now. There's nothing there between us anymore, and there hasn't been one for years," It felt odd for her to tell me this, about my father and their marriage. I said nothing, though, letting her sniffle a bit and sit up a bit more and breathe out smoothly.

"Are you sure?" I asked her finally, seeing her give me some kind of glare.

"Having me look at you and know what he has done for you is enough of a decision."

* * *

 **Present Day**

I rearranged the vest I had on while I was getting in the helicopter that was about to take us over to the city where we were going to be in, making my way over to the side where one seat was open. It was getting darker in the sky, and I could hear the copter getting ready for taking off. Harley was next to me on one side, Deathshot next to her other side, and Croc was across from me, eyeing me as I was sitting down and I eyed him back.

"Don't sit near the windows," He growled at me slowly and in a deep tone, having me eye him now with a raised eyebrow.

"Why not?" I asked.

"Windows won't hold us freaks in," he replied, having me see him smirk with his wide crocodile teeth and I grinned back at him, hearing the humor there in his tone and there on his face. I sat down, though, seeing him look in another direction and I strapped myself in.

"It's going to be a bumpy right ain't it?" Harley asked in optimism, the tattooed inmate walking up into the copter and seeing the spare seat next to me, looking at it in hesitance before he looked at me too. I didn't say anything at all since it would feel a bit more awkward if I did.

He sat down next to me, having me feel the small amount of heat for some reason coming off of him as she strapped himself in. I didn't think it was him, not at first and I thought I was feeling queasy about the mission coming up. But I was feeling the hotness there next to me, from his side of the seat. I knew it was warm, maybe from inside the copter or what, but I had a strange feeling that it was coming from him of all people.

" El Diablo," He said it softly over to me now, but still with a hint of a gruff there in his tone as I looked over at him now in confusion.

"What?" I asked, seeing him look right at me.

"You asked for my name, it's El Diablo," He replied back to me, having me watch him for a moment or two to really have the ahem drink in now. I didn't think that it did fit him, though it was tattooed there on his face near his jaw. It almost was like he was trying to find a way to make himself more intimidating, more than the tattoos apparently.

"El Diablo," I repeated, making sure it sounded fine on my own tongue. As soon as he said my name, he looked at me almost in a warm manner, like he approved in how I was saying it and I grinned at him softly, "I say it real bad don't I?"

"Sounds fine to me," He replied, having me feel a small flutter within my chest from how he said that to me. It was so kind and genuine at the same time, almost like he thought it sounded great. The helicopter started to lift off from the ground and we were about to catch a little bit of air when someone hopped into the back opening of the helicopter, all of us were looking over and we saw a new figure there with what looked like to be a katana sword at her side. She had on a mask, what looked like the Japan flag there and her whole outfit made her look like a warrior. I was speechless.

"You're late," Flagg told her, in which she spoke back to him in Japanese, sounding a bit short on her end now as she watched every single one of us.

"This is Katana, she has my back. She can cut all of you in half with just one sword stroke just like mowing the lawn. I would advise not getting killed by her," Flagg explained as we were watching her and she was watching us now, "Her sword traps the souls of its victims."

"Harley Quinn! Nice to meet ya!" Harley said as she thrust out her hand for Katana to shake, who was gazing her with a deadly look, "Love ya perfume! What is that? The stench of death?" She giggled after she said that. El Diablo and I looked at each other in hesitance as Katana asked Flagg something in Japanese, grabbing the handle of her katana and getting to ready for use. Maybe Harley pissed her off, but Flagg stopped her.

"Easy cowgirl! Ain't that kind of a mission, have a seat," He instructed her as she placed her hand away from the handle and sat with him now, I looked over at Harley now and I saw her grin at Deadshot.

"She seems nice,"

I was thinking to myself most of the plane ride, on how this was the last place I thought I would be in for a general sense. I was sitting inside a plane filled with military and super villains. Sure this is what my mother would want for me, and who cared about what my father would think, or where he was in general. I was more thinking about that fact that Amanda Waller was going to offer me freedom from the prison if I was going to help them with this mission. What was I going to do with my life after this? Where was I going to go? It seemed like it was about to turn around in the corner and yet it was so far away at the same time.

The helicopter was moving in a rough manner, having em snap back to the reality now as Harley was saying something about the lights outside the window there. I looked over, Diablo doing the same thing now as I saw the city far off in the distance, the skyscrapers there high in the sky and something in the back there with a bright beam of light reaching high up, flicking too right for me to look at directly. Something looked wrong about it, things circling around the side of it like a halo and that looked like pieces of a building and or the street. This was bad, real bad as we were getting closer to what it was.

That's when we were hit and we were spiraling to the ground.

I could feel my stomach dropping as we were spinning in the air, my hair was lying above me and floating int h air now as I shot my eyes closed and tried to breathe in and out. I knew this was going to be some kind of impact that could have me hurt either way, in which I knew it was going to be time for me to use my powers then. The crystallizing was starting to form now along my chest and blossom out into my arms and legs as we were descending faster and faster. I had to make sure that I was not going to get hurt here before the mission was really going to start.

Then it all went dark.


	5. Chapter 5

I woke up with a gasp in my throat and my eyes wide, smoke was filling my lungs and I was seeing the helicopter. Well, at least the side of it now as I was crumpled up and against the wall of the vehicle. I was still breathing, at least I knew that, and I tried to move around to make sure nothing was broken at all. Everything felt fine, but my heart rate was going way too fast now as I could hear people moving around and trying to get out of the helicopter itself. I was fascinated by how I was still alive, reaching out with my hand there as I felt that something was still pressing down on my chest really hard, almost impossible to move from where I was. But I looked down, realizing that I was pinned down.

I reached, seeing that I was still crystallized from the impact to protect me from the fall, grabbing the big box that was pushing me against the wall and pushing it hard, harder than I thought and I could see it moving there.

"Where's that Talbert chick?"

"She's back in the chopper!"

"Great, we have to babysit her ass," They were already grumbling about me as someone was walking over to grab me, having me look up and see that it was Diablo. He looked down and saw that I was pinned, my chest pressed hard against the corner and he rushed over to grab some of it away from.

"She's pinned!" Deadshot said as I shoved it hard, using the small amount of strength this power gave me and I felt the box fly back from my shove and hit the opposite wall with a jolt, the others around me freezing as they saw me literally throw the huge box the size of a horse against the wall like it was a paper ball. I sighed in relief, looking down at the damage on my vest there from the box almost piercing me in the side. I knew that if I was human, not a metahuman, that could have wounded me permanently.

Blessing indeed.

"You alright?" Diablo asked me as he reached, having me grab him and he help me with the hoist up from the ground and I hopped onto my feet. I could feel more of the heat coming off his fingers touching my own now as we locked fingers and he hoisted me up. I could feel my body going back to normal, no more as a crystal diamond walking around and moving but now looking like a human, smiling at him with a nod of my head.

"I'm good," I replied in a huff.

"Crickey, Sheila. That should've killed ya." Boomerang said in a whistle now as the rest of the group saw me there too. I felt like one again they were reminded that I was no delicate flower to be thrown around, I was tougher than I lead on and they were slowly letting that be.

"Let's go," Deadshot said to the group, the others following him out of the copter now with the other military men that were there with us that survived.

"What a ride!" Harley said in glee with her wooden bat as I looked back at Diablo.

"Thanks," I thanked him, seeing him still look at me from what I showed the group and he slowly nodded his head.

"No problem," He replied merely, the both of us slowly looking away from each other and walking out into the darkness of the city. I looked around, seeing nothing there but the dissolution and the abandonment there that used to have so many people. Not one person was in sight, and with the evidence of the overturn cars and rubble everywhere, we were in for some kind of fight for certain.

It was already ugly.

I stayed close to the group, the military group with Flagg taking the front with their guns and the rest of us were in the back, following them and not saying a word. We didn't know what to say since we didn't what was going to be in for us to experience. I was a bit nervous from seeing some of the debris throw around like raggedly, buildings were either sliced in half or about to be from the damage and some kind of matter on the ground that looked more like frozen black oil or putty. This has to be something big, big and nasty now as we were walking and I looked around feeling smaller and nervous than anything.

Boomerang and Slipknot were talking to each other under their breaths about something as I stayed close to Diablo and Croc now, my fingers were tapping against my side snow in nervousness and in fear that something could potentially move out and get us before we could even blink. It could happen, and I wondered if it was going to happen soon as we were about to turn a corner and go down another street that was leading us towards the center of the city.

It got ugly fast.

The next thing that I knew, Boomerang and Slipknot were punching military men and they were trying to run, the rest of us standing there in shock and some of us were ready to be defensive. I didn't know what to do since it felt like running was not the best idea for anyone at this point. Boomerang was sparring against Katana who was trying to stop him from leaving and she pinned him against the wall now with her sword against his neck. The military personnel was now aiming right at us, seeing who was going to move next.

But Slipknot, with one of his devices that looked like a gun, shot at the corner of a building and rope came out, seeing him fly up by the rope to make his escape. Flagg was about to shoot him as I stood by Diablo, the both of us were watching as Rick got something from his phone, holding it out and having me see that there was a picture of each of us, our mugshots.

What the hell?

He tapped something on his phone, then having me see something almost explode a bit on Slipknot's neck and he limped dead there against the wall, hanging like a puppet on a string and not moving. My eyes went wide, I saw it finally in action.

His bomb went off.

"Holy shit," I muttered to myself, reaching up to touch the area where I knew they placed the injection. Now it felt more real than before, almost like reality was setting in now as some of the others were still on shocked from how quick and easy it was with Rick touching the button with his finger.

"Now that's a killer app!" Harley said with a small smirk now as we were all shocked about it and how it all happened so quickly.

"Okay, you wanna keep playing the Hollywood Square's version of 'I'll Blow Your Freaking Head Off '?"Flagg asked the group now as we were watching him and I stayed still, seeing him look at Diablo now, "Are you next?"

"You're tripping, homie," Diablo replied now in a cool fashion as Flagg turned away and walked on some more, anger in his steps over to Deadshot.

"You next, Deadshot?"

"You just threaten me?" Deadshot asked as he walked up right to his face.

"Oh, yeah."

"He just threatened me," He said in a cool manner, almost in a smirk as he pointed at him right at his skull now as he walked away and back over to us. Flagg muttered at us to move under his breath now and we were walking again, the tension in the air was bigger than normal.

We kept walking, having me not want to say anything about what I just saw and how it would look for me to say something. Harley and Deadshot were talking about something under their own breaths, maybe about what juts happened and what they were going to do about it. I was more reluctant to do anything really. It still felt like I was on eggshells with the squad, and I didn't want to make it worse. But now that were still walking along the streets and seeing more and more of the damage, it was making it more of a scary concept to think about. Some of those morphed objects along the road, a few that we saw we stopped in front of, made it more chilling.

"Boss we've got movement up ahead,"

"I'm on my way," Rick said back to the intercom in his wrist as we were now moving along to follow him. I could see that something was about to happen and we could be caught in the middle now as we were coming to the cul-de-sac that was up ahead. I stayed behind like the rest of the villains there, the military personnel were moving over to the sides now and getting close to either the walls or the police cars that were abandoned and in the middle of the road.

"Amanda we gave hostiles up ahead," I heard Flagg said into his intercom as I looked back at the deserted street behind us. There was nothing there, but then looking forward at where they thought they saw something made me panic since it looked like something was moving a bit out in the distance near the end of the road.

Deadshot, Boomerang, and Harley were near another car, watching as though it was another day on the job as I was more back with Diablo and Croc, Croc moved up a bit as Boomerang spoke to Deadshot and Harley in a low tone. Harley had her arm on Deadshot's shoulder, very casual now as I was left with Diablo in the back.

"I don't like this," I said to him under my breath, mostly to myself really but he could hear me as he tilted his head over to me now with a knitted brow.

"What do you mean?" He questioned.

"It doesn't feel right," I explained in a breath, seeing him look back in front of me now too, I hoped that he was getting the same feeling that I was getting.

"Hey, I like these odds mate. Just say the word," Boomerang said to Deadshot now, having me see that he was also once again trying to be a loose cannon and want to get out of there, or at least be reckless.

"Come on," Harley egged him on from her side next to him, Deadshot nodding but not looking confident about it.

"Yeah, uhh, hold that thought." he moved away from him now as I was watching him with my eyes, seeing him slowly walk over to the military group a few feet away from the others and he was going in a cautious way about him. He was placing someone on over one of his eyes as I took a few steps over to where he was, thinking that he might need some kind of backup. Why was I thinking that? To protect a villain in something that could possibly go wrong? That shouldn't be in my nature.

So why did I want to make sure he was okay?

"Wait," Diablo called out to me as I started walking over, thinking that it had to some kind of a good idea to get a better view of what those things were that were off in the distance. I could feel myself thinking that I would be best in my metahuman for, so I felt myself crystallizing again now and getting most of it over me now as I was standing a bit behind Deadshot, after hearing hum ask Flagg what those things were.

"You cut and run I'll blow your head off."

I looked some more, my whole body was now crystalized and staying a bit behind Deadshot as he got his rifle out and peered into the scope, the sinking feeling of dread was coming in harder and harder within my chest and down to my stomach. Something was about to go south real quick.

And it did.

One of time shot first, hitting me square in the head and it knocked me back a bit, almost making me lose my footing. I could feel the bullet hitting me hard, but it pinged off like it was a paper ball hitting the wall. Deadshot spun his head to look at me in shot thinking that I was done for, but it was not the case. I cracked my head from the feeling of the bullet hitting but I stayed still, looking at him now with a raised diamond eyebrow.

"What?" I asked, seeing him shake it off and start shooting the being there.

Gunfire from their side as they were running outwards us, whatever they were. They were running towards us and the military men were shooting back at the same amount of force, the bullets flying to and fro and a few of them were hitting off of me. I knew that I was this strong, but not as strong this what was happening to me in that moment as they were dodging over the top of the cars and one of them jumped right on me. I fell to the floor, the sound of my materialistic body hitting the concrete rang out but I glared at the being that was over me. His head looked melted off and replaced with something else that didn't seem human.

Time to play a good guy.

I slammed my diamond fist into him, hard and hearing whatever it was crying out in pain as it fell back and I jumped up, grabbing it by the front and throwing it into the brick wall to the side. This was some insane way to fight from my own position, not having a skill with a gun or having claws really. It was more to being hit by them and then chucking them out of the way, thankfully my metahuman strength was enough for me to carry on my own. I did that a few more times within this battle, dodging and throwing and punching down to the ground. it seemed messy compared to the others, but it really wasn't going to be clean anyhow.

"Good riddance," I heard next to me, having me look to see why Harley would say that I saw what she meant: Flagg was taken by three of those things and it seemed like he was going to die. It got me to panic now as Deadshot was the one who reminded Harley.

"If he dies, we die!"

Harley reluctantly ran over to him with her bat, having me to follow her and get some of those things off of him now, throwing my fist back and trying to hit it as it dodged me and slammed its gun at me as if it was trying to stun me. I grabbed the gun, wielding it like a bat and knowing its head off like it was a ball on a tee ball holder.

It happened so quick.

Deadshot was off shooting from of those things back in the front where it all happened, Croc was throwing those things off his back like he was wrestling in the Olympics, Harley was still hitting them with her bat like she was in baseball, Boomerang was in the alleyway with one of them slicing through them, and I was fending off a few here and there, all the while I could see out of the corner of my eye Diablo was off to himself, not fighting at all and staying clear of the whole thing. Did he not want to fight? The way that he looked and how he was acting than in the moment was not making and not mixing together. I pause to watch him, seeing the look in his eyes now as he was watching me.

The look of pain.

Something struck me, causing me to realize that I was still in a battle now as a gun was hit hard against my face like it was a bat to me, It was a mere ding off like it was just a push instead of a gun hitting me hard. It made me look back at the being now, a tilt to my head now as the being itself quivered a bit from the lack of what it did to me. I grabbed his gun now, ripping it in half like it was a loaf of bread and I smack him with both pieces, seeing crumple to the ground as the first battle ended there

It all went quiet, and I survived.


	6. Chapter 6

She was hitting the body, over and over and over with her bat in hand and with a grunt in her tone. We were all pretty much done from then on out, with me trying to rearrange some of the small aches and little pains that I felt from that fight. It was still odd to me that I could survive something like that, something that a human could clearly die from. But once again, my meta side of life was more prone to having these kinds of beatings. It was odd that I was used to me, being hit for whatever reason. It had to be wrong, but it was normal for me.

"Hey! Hey come on," Deadshot wanted Harley as he was watching her hit the body over and over again.

"What? I saw it move." She explained, the body twitching a bit and she hit it one more time, "See? It flinched, I think."

"Hey, you were some help, Princess," Boomerang said to Diablo now as he watched him with hesitance there on his face. I was worried that they were going to start some kind of fight there as Diablo spoke up finally.

"It's better this way," Diablo said to him calmly, "Trust me." He was waving his hand in front of Boomerang and I saw him make fire with his hands there, a simple fire trick that had me amazing since it was the first time I saw him do something like that ever since we met. Boomerang mocked him with a grin.

"Oh, yeah, you're the fire bloke, eh?" Boomerang mocked him again with his own smirk and I saw the gold tooth there along his other teeth as he got close to Diablo.

"Yeah I was, yeah," Diablo answered.

"Well, right here. Looky here," Boomerang said to him, showing him his lited lighter now and Diablo watching him, making spooky sounds about it now before he took out the flame and it placed it away. Diablo was looking at him almost like a fool, but I stayed quiet then, thinking it was not my place to be put into the conversation. But I was wrong on that one since Boomerang posted to me then with one of his stubby fingers.

"Sheila over here had more action than you, and that's a wee bit embarrassing, aye? Being showed up by a girl?" He asked Diablo now, having me glare at Boomerang since he both brought me in the conversation and was still ragging on Diablo.

"Knock it off, Boomerang," I warned him slowly now in a low tone, Boomerang looked over at me now with a glint of fire in his eye.

"And what will ya do if I don't, Luv? Eh? Turn me into a pretty diamond popsicle?" he asked me, challenging me then as I was about to answer.

"Whip your ass, that's what she'll do," Diablo replied smoothly within seconds, having me see that Boomerang was caught in the middle of the talk between the both of us, he finally moved out of the way and over to one of the bodies to see if they had anything on them. I had to roll my eyes, he had to be that kind of bad guy after all.

"What are they?" Harley asked Flagg as he walked by her.

"I don't know," He answered.

"Bullshit," Deadshot countered back," That thing had on a $3,000 watch. Is that a person?"

"It was," Flagg replied to him in his low tone again, "Now it's not."

It made me look over to Diablo again to see what he was thinking about with all of this. Was he just as nervous? I had no clue, and I really wanted to know what was going on and if we were going to be dealing with more than what we could chew. He said nothing, but I could see on his face, along with the others, we were not liking what we were seeing.

Once again, we were moving out and walking behind the SEAL's that were far ahead of us, moving over more and more to the center of town. I was once again towards the back of the group and was shoving my hands in my pockets, thinking about how I just handled those things back there like I was shredding paper: with ease. It made me scared of myself, what else was there to me and my ability that I didn't know?

I finally looked back at Diablo to see him walking more timidly then, having em finally find my voice to talk to him once more that about that I saw in the past and with what I wanted to ask of him.

"Why didn't you fight, back there in the alley?" I asked him softly, thinking that I wouldn't want to go with the harsh approach since it would be too mean on my part and he's been through enough with the others bragging on him.

"I told that Waller chick when she brought me out here that I wasn't going to fight," Diablo explained to me, having me keep my attention on him now as we were going over to one of the shooting areas of the town with the store and big windows along the side for us to see, "That was my past, it's not me anymore."

"So you fought in the past then?" I asked him, more curious about him than anything, seeing him eye me then and wonder if I was pulling his leg or not. Did he think I was? I didn't want that got him.

"I made people afraid of me, because of what I could do. So I fought, I made myself a monster," He explained to me, thinking about ti to himself, "It cost me more than I bargain for, you know?"

"Kind of," I reassured him, "Not a whole lot, but sure. My own ability cost me my own father," He eyed me suspiciously now from how I said it and made it seem so simple.

"You lost your old man?" He asked me, the both of us were side by side then as I chewed the inside of my mouth.

"No, he just didn't want me anymore."

There was the sound of something hitting one of the glass windows there, all of us freezing and moving out of the way in time from the glass hitting the ground. After coming to, we realized that it was Harley whom broke the glass window and reached in to grab one of the purses on display.

"Seriously. What the hell's wrong with you people?" He asked her, but it sounded like he was talking about the whole group in general. Harley rolled her eyes as she threw her bag over her shoulder with her bat.

"We're bad guys, it's what we do."

We kept walking on then, dodging the fallen glass on the ground as I could see something orange glowing in the distance from the large tower that was reaching up to the sky. it was on Fire, I could see that, but I was looking back at Diablo with his hands shoved in his pockets.

"Thanks, by the way, for defending me back there with Boomerang," I thanked him thoughtfully, seeing him nod his head slowly. It gave me a small flutter within my chest when he grinned, genuinely grinned at me.

"I don't like dudes disrespecting women. Trust me, I learned that the hard way in my past," He paused, having me think that hr spoke too much of what happened in the past, "It's true, though,"

"What is?"

"You would had whooped his ass hard. Not gonna lie, I would pay to see that."

* * *

"Take a knee," Flagg told his men as we stopped for walking underneath what looked like the remains of some kind of plane. We all stopped, seeing what was ahead now as the SEAL's did what he told them to do, the utter silence of the city was filling in the area once again now.

The building that was out in front of us by several blocks had an orange glow being it, tall enough for me to barely see the top with the red lights there and nothing else that was showing signs from our enemy. Deadshot walked over to Flagg now, crouching down next to him.

"Our body's at the top of that building," He explained to Deadshot as I stood there behind them with Diablo and Croc, along with Harley, "We go up there,e pull them out of the vault they're hiding in, Helos extract us off the roof. It's Miller time."

"Check," one of his men said as awe were moving towards the building, slowly and ready for anything I was watching with my own eyes, the darkness was now something that I was used to and no longer afraid of. Their guns were still out and ready for a fight now as we stopped in front of the lobby there, the glass doors there were still intact now as Flagg spoke into his intercom.

"Waller? We're about to enter the building. Get that chopper ready,"

Before I knew it, Deadshot was walking up to the lobby past the SEAL's a determination in his step let alone some agitation in how this mission was going so far as he then spoke to Flagg.

"What do you say we get this over with?" He asked Flagg before walking away from him without hearing him call out for him to stop. The rest of us follow suite since it was worthless topping him and staying behind. We all walked up together, going up the few steps that were available. He opened the door, the damaged glass already shattering to the floor and making enough noise for Flagg to follow him, as well as the rest of us.

Inside the lobby it was quiet, the lights were still on and it looked like a modern magazine kind of lobby as I was staying close with the group.

"Mind if we tag along?" Deadshot said to Flagg as they both had their guns out and aimed t anything that would move. The both walked over to the intercoms there in the lobby at the front desk, the rest of us spanned out and moved around the area to get a look around when I heard Boomerang speaking up in an optimistic manner.

"Looks like we have a spot of luck, eh? Be a walk in the park. Easy peasy," He said in a lighter manner to Deadshot as I saw Harley walking away from us, thinking to herself maybe as I looked at the high windows and gulped. This was a tall building after all.

"Don't make me shoot you," Deadshot warned him, Boomerang laughing in return now.

"If he doesn't I will," I muttered under my breath, Croc next to me heckled with his deep voice.

"Psst!" I looked over to see who said that, seeing Harley as she was courted around one of the corners near the elevator and she was motioned for me to follow her. I raised an eyebrow at her, walking over to see what she was up to. When Ir reached her, she was getting in one of the elevators that were already open, about to close on her when I was going to stop it. She waved at me goodbye, blowing a kiss at me as the doors closed and she started going up.

Shit.

"Harley." I hissed, looking around to find another elevator that was about to close. Ir an over to it, not thinking about which floor it was going to go, but I pressed the up button and I followed her up, thinking that I could at least stop her from doing something stupid that could get all of us killed. I could feel the elevator going up as I was looking around to have some kind of sing as to which floor she was going up on. I saw the one side of the elevator was full glass, seeing the group below and they were running over to the elevators now themselves. Most of them were looking at Harley and her elevator, but Diablo and Boomerang found me on my own, Diablo looking like he was about to panic.

Panic over me?

I was going fine for a few second until I heard the glass shatter and something fly into the room: one of those beings. The grabbed me by the arms and the slammed me against the wall, having em grunt out in pain now as they were going to try and strangle me. I instantly snapped into my metahuman form, the diamond-form going through to my arms and fingers now as I twisted out of the hold, moving out of the way and grabbing it by its head to slam into my diamond knee. It grunted out, almost falling to the floor when I grabbed it's military jacket, throwing it against the wall and then out the same window that it flew into.

It all append quick, having me breathe out and close my eyes now as I felt the elevator stop and I heard the doors opening without me opening my own eyes.

"Oi, she's in here!" Boomerang called out, having me hear some footsteps walking over to me now as someone placed their hand there on my shoulder, or what felt like a hand. I opened my eyes, seeing Croc look at me with his knitted brow there on his scaly skin.

"You okay?" He asked in his deep tone, having me slowly nod my head as I got up again from my crouching position, hearing his grunt in response as we both walked out of the room now together, back over to the group. The others found me there, including Harley who was waiting for me with her bat on her shoulder again. I eyed her coldly now as she shrugged her shoulders.

"What? I wanted to play hide and seek. Geeze," She explained, Flagg rolling his eyes at her now as Diablo walked over to me next to Croc.

"You alright?" He asked me, sounding a bit concerned since he could tell I was still breathing roughly now and I nodded.

"One of those things almost got me," I explained, seeing his eyes go wide for a spy second, "But I'm good."

"Of course, you are, Shelia. You're a tough little Diamond, remember?" Boomerang asked her as Diablo whirled around to glare at him, anger was in his eyes and I felt like he was about to tell him off once more. I didn't want that for him, so I threw out my hand to grab his jacket sleeve, seeing him pause and look at my hand there touching his sleeve like it was an intimate amount there between us as we locked eyes. I shook my head slowly, not wanting him to have a fight that I knew he didn't want.

"Don't," I warned him, seeing him think gin about it for a moment or two before he nodded his head and I released his jacket. Boomerang was already walking away, not seeing me stop Diablo from almost incinerating him from his comment to me. I stood up complete next to him, trying to shake off the hotness that I felt from his jacket or how our eyes locked and we were almost connecting together just in sight. This was wrong for me to feel something like this towards someone else, towards someone whom people would call a "Villian". But in my head it didn't matter how he looked or how powerful he was apparent, for something reason, something inside of me told me that there was more to this man than what I thought there was.

These feelings were real, whether I liked it or not.


	7. Chapter 7

We walked into the room, seeing the computers and the small areas that were set up all around the area and things looking disheveled. They were already gone, whoever used to work theses computers anyhow, and it was still too eery and quiet enough for us to move out and around the area and spread out and checking things out. I couldn't hear a single thing, an obvious sign of something yet to come.

"Hold," Flagg instructed, holding up his fists and we stopped. The SEAL's were aiming all in different directions with their guns and I felt like I was helpless without one. Why didn't I learn how to shoot a gun before hand?

"I don't like this Flag," Deadshot warned him calmly as he too had his rifle out and loaded.

"I don't like it either," Flag said to him as I looked over at Harley, seeing her still look a bit cheery about what was going on and yet not at the same time. They knew something was up, both Deadshot and Flag now as they were hesitantly looking forward again. Deadshot finally got his white mask on, Harley grinning from ear to ear now as she looked forward.

"Pussy."

"I will knock your ass out. I do not care that you're a girl," he warned her as he turned on his scope that was on his mask. Harley was still smiling, looking ahead again now with her bat on her shoulders and I looked over to Croc, seeing him tilt his head up at the ceiling as if he could hear something. I wondered what he was hearing and if he knew something was up. It was then that the ceiling broke, those things falling through the ceiling now and onto the ground.

Great, absolutely great.

We were breaking out into another fight. We were spreading out as more of those things were in the room and I was just trying to dodge them left and right. I was moving out of the way in time as one of those things had a knife there in its hand and it was trying to stab me there. Very quickly I was trying to dodge that knife while my diamond form was coming through, but it didn't come through in time when my arm was sliced from the knife. I quickly rammed the being with the side that was already formed and I saw him be launched in the air, hitting a few of the cubed walls and falling defeat.

I could see out of the corner of my eye Boomerang being thrown into a room and I ran over there to see if he was hurt, but my vision was blocked by another one of those beings, seeing it try to stab me with his own knife against my chest. As soon as the knife hit my diamond chest, it clanked against my chest and a spark was seen, having me grab the knife from the being as it stumbled back and I sliced its head, seeing it stumble to the floor in defeat as I moved over to where Boomerang was.

"Boomerang!" I yelled out, seeing him on the floor and a knife was sticking out of his chest. It made me panic, thinking he was dead as I then walked over a few steps. He shot up, having me yell out in shock as he grabbed the handle of the knife and pulled it out to show that it was attached to a book that he stowed away and not his body.

"For God Sakes," I said to him in a groan as I helped him up, seeing him nod at me and shrug his own shoulders.

"Best call me lucky, Sheila," He said, having me snort at him.

"I wanna call you plenty of things, but now's not the time," I warned, hearing another one of those things behind us as I whirled around, watching him with a rifle there in his hand and I threw up my hands to block him from Boomerang.

"Behind me!" I yelled, seeing Boomerang take refuge behind me as the bullets were flying and hitting me all over the face and body, not making a hard or making any pain. I stayed there, taking the blunt of the blows that were coming now as Boomerang placed an arm on my shoulder.

"Duck, now!" He said having me duck down at he tossed one of his metal boomerangs at the being and it hit him hard in the head, stuck out against the skin and it fell to the floor in a heap. I finally stood up completely and looked over at Boomerang, seeing him look at me up and down now with my form in front of him.

"Don't you say a word," I warned him, seeing him hear my low tone of a voice now with my form in front of him. It might have just intimidated him, did it?

"Not a single bloody one," he said as we both heard some kind of struggle out there back in the main room, the both of us running over as Deadshot was making his way over to Flagg who was once again being taken by three of those things.

"They're after Flagg again!" He yelled, all of us stopping in our tracks from the fight and making our way over to him at a fast rate.

"Get off me!" He yelled as I was dodging some of those things that were trying to get us. We were surrounding him

"Circle up! Circle around him!" Deadshot commanded us as I was over to the side, the bullets were still flying and bouncing off of me now as I could see some of them were trying to hit Flagg. I reached out my hand to block the ones that were going to get him, getting in the way of his vision.

"Let me fight!" Flagg protested.

"You die, we die." Deadshot reminded Flagg as I got a couple of those bullets in my hand from them hitting them. The SEALS were doing their job now as I was moving a bit out of the way and over to the front of the group now since more their firing was getting intense. I wanted to at least help in some way or else there was no real point for me to be there.

They were bouncing off of me with ease now as I was standing there, getting rid of most of the bullets there and thinking that I was either making a great decision or the worst decision there. But they weren't affecting me, nothing was real since my own form that taking most of the blunt. Somewhere deep inside, on the other hand, I could feel the energy seeping out of me for using this for far too long and with a lot of damage being thrown at me. I didn't do anything kind of training for something like this, so I was used to taking this much pain and force that I was inflicting on myself.

Once the last one was down and I heard Flagg said we were moving out, I breathed out slowly and I fell to my knees as the others were moving on, grasping the floor and was trying to breathe as I was going back to normal again. My arm was stinging from the gunshot wound that came through, having me look to see some blood there along my sleeve and into my skin.

"Eh, you okay doll face?" Harley asked me as she placed her gun in her holder and learning down over to where I was and looking at me up and down, "You got hit?"

"I'm just,…I'm tired. I can't keep doing that for too long," I explained in a huff as she grabbed my shoulder and hoisted me up.

"Well, learn from someone like me, quit being the good guy for once," She said with a snort as we were standing there, side by side and walking over to where the rest of the guys were and were walking. I was finding it hard to breathe from all the energy that I lost there within hours, which worried me that I wasn't going to be good enough for the group there. If I wasn't going to be indestructible, and I didn't know what to do with any kind of weaponry.

I was useless. Great.

We were reaching another great room that had a wrap around walkway with higher windows that reached plenty of floors. We were walking along the side there, accepting the small walkway that we had before another round of firing went off at us. Boomerang hit the group, I moved over to the side of the wall near Croc now as the SEAL's were fighting back with Deadshot and I was just trying to get enough energy back in my system to help out.

"Where you been, homie?" Deadshot as now yelling at Diablo now as I was trying to avoid getting hit, feeling some of my energy coming back enough for me to get my arm working again in my diamond form.

"This ain't my fight!" Diablo argued.

"You know what? You don't stand for shit, you ain't about shit!" Deadshot scolded him as I saw Boomerang avoided the both of them and the bullets that were flying as he was crawling on the floor. I moved my crystallized arm to my face to avoid getting anymore bullet hot there as the rant continued with Deadshot and Diablo.

"You wanna see something?! You wanna see something?!"

"Show me something, I wanna see something!"

Everything went bright then, bright and hot.

I was pressed against the wall from the force of the fire that was coming off of Diablo, whom as holding up his hands and shooting out the flames of fire. I was trying to keep myself farther away from it, the diamond arm that I had was a good enough shield for me not to hit the floor like the rest of the group. It lasted for what seems dilemma forever, having me wonder how much fire was he going to spew out. I couldn't hear anymore firing from the beings there on the other side of the courtyard, so it made me think that he scorched them all.

The fire was gone now, at least away from us as I looked up from my shield that I made with my arm, seeing Diablo there breathing heavily. It might have taken a lot out of him too since he was looking back at Deadshot with a solemn look on his face, either that or a death wish. Deadshot said nothing now as the rest of the team were getting up from being on the ground, having me move away from the wall now in a huff.

"I was just trying to get you there," Deadshot replied to Diablo as I looked down at my crystallized arm. That was a first, being immune to the damage of fire because of my metahuman. it scared me that I was capable of something like that, making me feel more powerful about it now as they were gone again moving, all but Diablo. He and I were the only ones that were standing there, trying to drink in what just happened and how it happened. I moved my arm back down to my side there, feeling ti go back to normal there and almost shaking from the vast impact of the fire.

"Wow," I said in a gasp as I saw the flames that Diablo inflicted.

"I know," he said in a low tone, almost like it was sorrowful. But I was seeing the flames and how he was capable of doing all of that, something so powerful for someone who seemed to not even want to inflict violence.

"It's beautiful," I said, voicing what was in my head. This whole thing, how he can something this great with the kind of heart I felt like he had and the kind of spirit that was different from the others. He looked at me in shock now, not getting what I was saying to him as I smiled widely.

"What?" He asked.

"What you did, it is beyond beautiful," I admitted to him, but he shook his head almost in retaliation.

"It's a curse, that's what it is," He reminded me, having me tilt my head at him. I wanted him to believe that he wasn't cursed, at least in my head, I hoped he knew that he wasn't cursed. But there was still more to him that I knew, more that was not scratched at the tip of the surface. I sighed then , looking away from him after I heard the group making some kind of loud noise near what seemed to be the stairwell. I walked away from Diablo, thinking that this was not a great time for me to try and convince him that he was not evil. But I could hear him mutter something under his breath as I walked past him:

" _Lo que tienes es bello_."


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note:** This is less of an action chapter and more of an interaction one with Diablo and Rose. I wanted them to have more dialogue with each other, but I promise that I'll keep the action up in the next chapter.

Also, if you have some corrections to give me, which I don't mind at all, please private message me and not leave it in a review! That would be beyond helpful, and I really do welcome helpful notes and criticisms. It'll help me be a better writer!

Leave a review and some love!

* * *

 **Ruby Slipper Cafe**

 **New Orleans, Louisiana**

 **6 years ago**

"How are things there in college?" Mom asked me as we were sitting together at the cafe, having another one of our mother-daughter dates. It was her idea, though I was also on board with going out with just the two of us there within the crowded and small room. Jazz music was playing in the background and I could smell the coffee that was coming through from the bar where the barista was working away at the machine.

"So far so good. I like my classes," I explained to her as she took a drink from her tea and smiled when I was saying this, "I think one class is going to be challenging."

"Which one?" She asked, intrigued.

"Elementary Statistics. It's a tough one according to my roommate," I lightly answered seeing her nod her head and have another sip now as I was reading her up and down to see what was on her mind. Since we both left my father behind two years ago, I was worried about her and how she was dealing with the fact that she was single and no longer living with him. I knew that it made her happy out of that hell hole, I knew it was making me happy too. But there was a concern that she would have to be alone, no one really to talk to and to put her life back together from the shattered pieces.

"How are you, mom?" I asked her, seeing him just gave me shrug now as I folded my hands on the table in front of me. Something was telling me that she was trying to have some kind of brave face there with me, she always wanted to put up some optimism whenever she was with me.

"I'm fine, Chere." She reasoned, having me raise an eye at her. I could tell she was trying to make it seem like she was fine, nothing was going to touch her or harm her. But knowing my mom and how many years she had the same thing with my father and fool him, she was an expert at hiding her true feelings.

It was a shame.

"Mom," I said to her, just saying the one word to her was enough for her to see that I was not going to fool me. She sighed, looking down at her cup there within her hands and her mind was going into overdrive again.

"It's been rough, Chere. I know that it's going to be awhile until things go back to normal, but it's better than what we had before, you know?" She asked me, having me nod in agreement, "But I'm going to get by. Your Aunt and Uncle found me a great job in the library by our house."

"That's good, mom." I agreed with her now, "That's very good. I remember how you would joke about being a librarian, and now you get to be one."

"Look at me reaching for the stars in my career!" She agreed with a small laugh, making me smile there too as I could see that she was looking a wee bit to my right, having me realize what she was looking at and the small look of guilt was back there on her face.

"Do they ask you, on how you got that?" She asked me in a small pause, her voice sounded timid and careful now as I stayed quiet for a moment or so. I nodded my head, seeing that she as not feeling so great.

"Only my roommate. I told her that I got in a car accident," We both agreed that it would be the best thing for me to lie about what happened to me, since the mere thought of telling people that I was hit by my own father. It would be a stigma that I didn't want at all on not only myself but most on my mother. She did not deserve something like that to live with for the rest of her life. She deserved better.

"Look, things are going to be okay in the long run, you know that right?" She asked me, having me feel terrible for her. I knew that this was not easy for her to have me try to go on with my life, she wanted that for me. The best for me, even when I knew that the world was going to go against me as a metahuman. It was going to be rough for me, beyond rough and not even close to safe. But my mother, as kind and careful as she was, she knew that too and she hoped that she did the best for me.

"I hope you know that you're a fantastic mother, with all that you got us through and since we left him, You're keeping us alive out here," I explained to her calmly. reaching over to lace our fingers together and to see the brokenness there on her face. I hated that, and I blamed him for doing that to her and her beautiful soul that I knew she harbored for as long as I could remember.

"Don't you dare think that you're not a good enough mother to me," I reminded her, "You've done far more than any mother would: you protected me from him and got me away before things could have gone worse,"

She nodded, a small tear escaped her eye then as I squeezed our hands that were joined together there on the table, in which I was hoping that she believed and understood what I was saying to her.

She had to believe that.

* * *

 **Present Day.**

"Christ," I mumbled leaning against the wall there as we were climbing the stairs to get to the top level. I was still low on my own energy count, thinking that this was getting worse than it did before. How could something like this happen? Was it because I never used my own ability this much before? Was it because of the situation I was in, using all of my energy without a second thought to it? It felt like I was about to collapse from exhaustion and have an asthma attack at the came time.

"You don't look so hot," I looked up from resting my head against the wall, seeing Diablo look at me with worry. I hated seeing that face look at me in concern now as I breathed out slowly.

"I used too much," I mumbled to him, seeing him then grab my arm and hoist me up gently with his hands around me skin, the fiery feel of warmth there as our skin came in contact.

"Lean on me," He instructed, having me do just that without a single ounce of stubbornness to fight him as he wrapped one arm around me and the other grabbed the railing to hoist the both of us up with my combined body weight and his too. I felt terrible for him to do that for me as I was walking, but not as strong as Diablo and his stance.

"I get the same way, you know," He reassured me "Sometimes it's hard to stand up when I used it too much."

"It's never happened before, trust me," I said to him, feeling the heaviness there in my stance as I was going up step by step, higher and higher up with the stairs.

"I think you lasted longer than I thought you would," He said to me in a huff now as I looked at him, smirking then at the worst time.

"Was that a joke?" I asked him out of breath, seeing him eye me slightly before looking ahead. I snickered, "El Diablo said a joke. You know you had a sense of humor after all."

"Don't let the others know," He said to me under his breath, his hold on my waist tighten a bit, having me feel it straight to my human bones then and almost lose my stepping on how it felt with me. I didn't know what was wrong with me, or how this was happening when we were on a mission, but there was a shift happening and it was moving both fast and slow at the same time.

"You know I remember you, back at the prison," he said to me under his breath now as we were going up another floor, having me look at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Really?" I questioned.

"Yeah, you would be escorted by my tank every once in awhile from the past few months. I remember because I saw your tattoo there along your neck, I thought it was a legit one too," He explained, his voice was soothing and calm when he said this to me, "At first I didn't know why they would lock up someone like you in a place like that."

"You didn't know I was metahuman?"

"Nah, not really. They didn't tell me shit, they hated me. But I caught on one day when they were taking me back to my tank. You were out at the REC yard, and I saw your hand and how it shined in the sunlight. That's when I knew: you were like me." He explained, having me feel as though this was some kind of secret that he was telling me a secret that he was bottling up for a long time. I never thought hr would be some kind of guy to look my way, which sounded harsh but it was real enough. Realizing that he did see me for time and time and took the time to watch me from his own tank and own prison walls was enough for me to feel terrible that I didn't notice him before.

"You weren't afraid of me?" I asked him, feeling a bit better on how he was carrying me almost up the stairs there and getting few ounces of energy back to me. He shook his head, having me look at him in surprise now.

"Nah, I thought you were interesting is all. Never saw someone that can change into a diamond before," He admitted.

"There's a first for everyone I guess: never thought I would meet a pyro like you before either," I said to him, seeing a small smile there on his lips and I giggled.

"Well, he can smile after all," I joked one again to him, seeing him roll his eyes.

"Don't make me drop you here," He warned me, almost teasing me in a way now as he rearranged his grip on my hip there, almost slipping a bit and I could feel the fingers there through my own skin. It was almost intoxicating for me to feel, maybe that was going to be a problem later in life. I had to wait to see what it was going to be like, plus there was a realization that he may not even think the same way about me. Why would he? I wasn't as interesting as he was, nor was I as pretty since it was more of a depressing thing to think about myself.

It was odd, odd indeed.

* * *

We made it to the stop floor, Diablo finally releasing me and we were waling into what looked like another office that was cleared out with the wide window that showed the bright range flames that were bringing in the tinted heat. There were chairs and a coffee table out and about, having me see that this was more of a lobby than anything. The SEAL's were already in there, Flagg was walking away from Deadshot and Harley now as he was holding his rifle.

"Wait here, please? I don't wanna give this dude a heart attack, Okay?" He asked the both of them now as Diablo and I stood in the back and I could se Harley cracking a smile there on her lips

"Aww he's embarrassed of us," Harely teased as he was walking over a door that had some kind of security there on the wall next to the handle.

"Hey, Flag. This dude better cure cancer after all this shit," Deadshot warned him now as I looked out the window out into the city there. Flag looked from him over to me now as I was seeing the skyline there of the town, how small I felt and how high up too.

"Hey," I turned to see him look at me, "You good?"

"Yeah, yeah i'm fine," I said to him, seeing him give me a small nod before he went to open the door now. I looked back to the outside world, placing my fingers there and seeing the fingertips crystalized and tap the window there nonchalantly. It was leaving a ring there in the room as some of the group decided to sit in the couches and others stood around.

"Something ain't right," Deadshot said finally, breaking the silence now as he started to walk over to the door now and I looked at him in wonder as to why he was thinking was something was wrong. What was his intuition like in the first place?

"Hold up!" Harley hissed before he disappear behind the door, seeing him sigh as she looked out the window too, walking over to me now as I could see the orange tint on her white and makeup face.

"Pretty lights, ain't it?" She asked me, though I said nothing and kipping looking myself now as she continued, "Ain't as pretty as those heart eyes that you have for the flame boy though."

"Harley…" I warned her.

"I know things, and that is one thing that I do know. Trust me, he likes ya too," She said to me in a quirky tone now as I stopped the tapping on the glass with my diamond fingers.

"You say one more thing, I will punch you and make you go blind,"

All she could do was snicker.


	9. Chapter 9

The Avenue Pub

Lousiana

5 years ago

"There have been sightings and arrests of metahumans in all city areas around the country. Places like Los Angeles, Austin, Chicago and Detroit have been cracking down on the arrest of metahumans because of their abilities and the dangers that come with it. Already we have protests that are in major cities to stop the violence against the metahumans and their families, but more and more arrests are being made without any real consent or reason to,"

I grimaced, looking ahead at the bar that I was sitting on and taking another drink from the pint that was in front of me. I hated what I was seeing on the news recently, and I wanted to get a drink since I had no classes that afternoon and I was free until that night when I was going to have a late study session. But now that metahumans were being rounded up and were disappearing by the dozens every day, it was going to be tricky for me to go out at night and but be caught.

Police and scientists were calling people like a nuisance to society, something that was not normal or decent to have around. They wondered both if it was a breakthrough of evolution or a breakthrough of an apocalypse. Either way, the metahumans were not being looked at in a positive way.

"Recent studies have been wondering if Superman is linked to this species of human, and if he is, then are the rest of them going to be for us or against us in society," Now some kind of scientist was talking to the news anchor there about our kind and what they were capable of. I took another long drink, placing the few dollar bills on the bar top and then hopping off the stool to walk out. I had enough to hearing about all that was happening in the world about metahumans. I felt like I had to hide out wherever I go, not saying a word about what I could do. But this was getting more serious and dangerous for me, just to walk down the street or to order food.

I walked out onto the sidewalk there, seeing over to my left someone being escorted by police to the cop car with his hands behind his back. I watched for a second before I could catch on to what was going on.

"Another metahuman, it's the third one today,"

I cringed and walked the other way, hoping and praying that I wouldn't have to go on the run.

I prayed I didn't.

* * *

Present Day

I was leaning against the wall, controlling my breathing in and out through my nose and just trying to get my own mind back to the center again when we heard the door opening, all of us looking over there now as I was standing near Diablo, who was sitting against the wall. At first, we saw Deadshot coming through, then it was the very last person we would expect that had this whole thing through a loop. Harley was the one the spoke what was on our minds:

"No, way."

Amanda Waller herself.

What in the hell was going on? Why was she here? Diablo shot up from his spot next to meet, as if the rest of the group as they were examining her to make sure that this was a real thing that they were seeing. I was the first one to walk over, Diablo behind me along with Harley as we finally circled her and she looked at each and every one of us. I had no idea what was going on, and I felt like I was not going to be prepared to know what was going on after all.

"Let's go home," Flagg simply said, having me look over at him now in shock. Was he in on this too? It was beyond confused as Boomerang spoke up too from the other side of the circle.

"Yeah, let's go home. That sounds good. You guys wanna go home? Or you wanna go back to prison?" He was pissed, I could see it in his eye and I could hear it in his tone. So far, I felt like I was on his side now since I felt like someone else should be there in her place. Was this some kind of test on her part with us?

"I'm not going back to prison," Harley said coolly back at him before she gazed over at Waller now, death was now in her line of vision as I stayed perfectly still, not having enough nerve to say a single thing about this.

"What I'm saying is, we will the pair of 'em now before they kill us," Boomerang explained to her, having me see what was going on in his head. He just wanted this done and over with, so we might as well kill them both and walk away free people. Katana drew out her sword, but Waller stopped her and looked at her now with her own cool face.

"I got this," She whispered to her now as she looked back at the group of us then, "You all made it this far. Don't get high spirited on me and ruin a good thing," She said it in a warning now as she held up a phone in her hand, no, it was a device. The same kind that Flagg had that he used on Slipknot when he died. She was in control now, one push with her thumb that was so close to the glass and we were all dead. No one moved, they knew that too, Croc growing under his tone of breath and the others were no longer saying a work or being confident.

I could see her looked right at me now, her face was still stone-faced now as I was feeling like she was pouring into my soul from how she was looking at me. It almost made me want to go and hide, in which Diablo looked over at me in confusion and then back at Waller. Without thinking about it, I scooted a bit closer to him, seeing that he didn't move away from me from the simple act that I did.

"I didn't think you would last this long," She said to me, almost like a confession now as I looked at her in shock. it sounded like she didn't have enough faith in me for being here on this team, though she was the one that hired me on. Did she think that was others, the ones that were villains, were going to kill me off? It was almost a pain of a feeling that I had like it was a wave of disappointment there.

She placed the device back in her pocket, walking through the circle that we made it now with no remorse and shoved her way past Croc lightly, who watched her for a second with his low eyes.

"I like her."

* * *

"Savior One-Zero this is Ground Element." We on the roof, this time, waiting for the chopper that would take Amanda out of the area since it was part of the mission. I was watching in silence with my hands in my pockets, seeing the helicopter slowly mauve its way around to have the back be open. I was still thinking about what she said to me back there in that room, how she thought I would have been dead earlier. It made me think that I had something to prove to her now since I was the oddball out of the whole group. I didn't fit in, did the others think the same way too? The cold air was picking up that night, thing giving me a shiver now as they tried again to talk to the chopper.

"Savior-One Zero how copy? Ma'am, they are not responding," I could see Flagg shift a bit now as he was listening in with what was going on. he then stood stiffly there, looking right at the chopper now and I looked at him to see what he was seeing.

"Our bird's been jacked. Light it up!"

The noise was the firs then, and then the machine gun.

I moved out of the way just in time, Boomerang and Diablo 20 feet away from me as we were behind two of the vents that were perched up, the constant banging of the bullets from the machine gun was roaring and hitting so hard that I was blanking out and all else that was happening. Some of the SEAL's were falling left and right as I was covering my head and trying not to get hit by the sparks or the bullets. It was getting crazy now as I was thinking of someway to get to another.

My vent was about to me demolished for good, having me panic that I had to move within a second or else I was going to be hit. I then morphed into my crystalized form, taking in a few deep rebates and then shoot up and running over to the vent that Diablo and Boomerang were hiding behind. These bullets were flying so fast were ricocheting off of me so fast that it was making me diamond form red hot and almost unbearable to touch as I ran and jumped over one of the pipes that were poking up from the ground.

"What in the hell is that?!" That voice was a voice I hear rarely on the TV, someone who was far more villainous that I ever thought possible. But it couldn't be him, not that one.

Could it?

"Dive for it!" Boomerang yelled as I dove and hit behind them and the vent. I could feel my whole body was on fire from the rapid fire that was hitting my diamond body, the both of Boomerang and Diablo were looking at me in shock.

"What?" I asked over the loud gunfire. Diablo then reached over to place his hand there along my diamond arm, which was beet red now and I was about to yell at him to get off of me in case he was going to be burning himself.

"You're heating up from the machine!" He said to me, though I was looking down at our joined hand and arm now and wondering how he was holding me there and not getting hurt. How was that possible? Why wasn't he hurting? And why was he holding me there, almost in a protective way now as we were still hiding from the gunfire?

Then we heard someone calling out to another, having me look over and see none other than Harley walk up from her own hiding spot and out in the open, the gunfire was not even close to hitting her as she was walking towards what looked like the edge of the rooftop. What was she doing? Was she out of her mind then as she was now running faster and faster, about to jump off. I finally mustered enough courage to look up and over to see her jump, getting a good amount of air there in her leap, and grasping a black rope that was dangling from the helicopter.

She was escaping. She knew those people firing at us.

"Deadshot, shoot that woman right now!" Waller demanded as we were all poking our head out and walking over to the edge, seeing Harley there on the rope floating away and giggling as she was doing this.

"She ain't do shit to me," Deadshot responded casually as Waller eyed him with anger and determination there all over her face.

"You're a hitman, right? I got a contract, kill Harley Quinn. Do it for your freedom and your kid," She was so determined to kill Harley that I shot a look over to Deadshot now. trying to see his own reaction and what he was going to do. Flagg looked down, the others are speechless as to what she was telling him as if she had no idea what we did for the past few hours and All she wanted now as to kill her. It didn't feel right, almost like a gnawing feeling in my chest then.

"Now she dead," He replied, having me morphed back to my human form and watch without movement as he got into position near the edge, rifle up and his scope near his eye. Boomerang was eyeing Waller with hate, but I was keeping my eyes on Harley as she was twisting around on the rope like she was in the Olympics, hanging upside down and grinning that whole time.

He took the shot.

"No," I said before I could even think about it, taking a step forward now as I saw her body from afar going limp. Diablo grabbed my arm then, having me look at him in shock as to why he was stopping me. But his eyes were still on Harley, having me look too and see that within a few seconds, she popped back up like she was playing dead, cackling as she was moving farther and farther away now.

Deadshot popped back up and walked over to Waller, leaning over to her with a smirk on his face, "I missed." He walked away from her, past Katana and Boomerang as I watched her float away, thinking that it would be the last time I was going to see her again and even call her a friend, or somewhere close to a friend really.

"Good one, mate," Boomerang said to Deadshot now in a small nod of approval.

"It's Waller, Savior One-Zero's been hijacked. Shoot it down," Waller said to the walkie-talkie in her hand, Diablo and I looked at each other now in a panic. Was Waller really going to go in that far of a length? Was there more to her than I thought? I waited for a few seconds, waiting to hear that explosion that I knew would end her now and It made me mad, and that I couldn't do a Goddamn thing to protect Harley and whoever else was on the helicopter. It was the good guy part of me: protection.

The sound was deafening, roaring into the sky now as I saw a small explosion of flames far enough away to show that it was, in fact, the helicopter. I closed my eyes in defeat.

"Target destroyed, ma'am."

"Thank you now, get me off this roof."


	10. Chapter 10

Another explosion filled the sky, which was not a good thing to hear.

"Ops just confirmed. She's down. 1k west," Of course something like that would happen, having the rest of us look at the SEAL's that survived the attack and Flag now as he was thinking to himself now. He looked more pissed than concerned as we were waiting for him to say something, anything for us to do as he started walking over to the doors now.

"Let's go get her," He said finally, huffing it out as the SEAL's were following him. He walked over to Deadshot now, a solemn look on his face, "The mission's not over."

"Nah. It is for me. We had a deal," Deadshot replied in a low tone now as he eyes Flag.

"Without Waller, you got nothing," Flag reminded him, walking away from him now with his head down and Deadshot sighing in frustration and we were standing there on the roof. How much more could we take here? Since she was now alive, we had to go get her since she was holding our life in the balance, like a puppeteer with strings attached to our arms and legs, along with our hearts. This was getting way more complicated, way more than I bargained for.

I stayed there for a moment or two in the pouring rain, thinking about how I may some kind of bad decision to come here and work for this woman who seemed to have more skeletons in her closet than what she was willing to show. It scared me that she was holding my own life there with her hand, and it didn't really make me feel so confident anymore.

Diablo walked up next to me, watching me carefully now as I was looking ahead at me at some of the smoke that was coming up from the sky.

"You okay?" He asked, having me look over at him now and see the hesitance there on his face.

"I should have stayed in prison," I replied, thinking of nothing else to say within that moment now and I moved to walk away now, hating this situation and not wanting to be here anymore. It was dreadful, what I was feeling, and that sense of confidence there all around me like a bubble that was not going to burst anytime soon.

* * *

We walked out of the building, back into the rain again and I was seeing none other than Harley Quinn, sitting on top of a Police Car and looking like she was soaked to the bone. I was wondering how is it that she was still alive, but then, knowing her and all hat she went through with The Joker in the past with their villainous acts, it was no surprise to be fair. She instantly saw us walking over to her now and she struck a pose on the car as if she was waiting for us.

"Hey, guys, and lady! I'm back! I missed you all so much," She said in her tone as we approached her at the car and watched her. I couldn't help but smile, seeing that she was somewhat okay.

"We're glad you could make it," Deadshot replied to her, the both of them were locking eyes with one another now and I could see something behind her own stare was breaking, something was raw and real that she wanted to hide from the rest of us or at least put on a good show for it. Deadshot helped her down from the car before he walked on with the SEAL's.

"Hey, craziness," Boomerang said to her, then tossing her the wooden bat she used and she caught it with ease. After he walked on, Croc, Diablo and I smiled at her and we walked with her to join the rest of the group.

"Miss me much?" Harley asked me as I nodded my head.

"Course I did," I replied back to her, "You let me hanging for a second there."

"Well, ya know little ol' me. Can't leave ya here by yourself with these men," She reassured, the both of us smiling as we walked on, "Besides, I wanna see you and our flame boy at least kiss."

"Don't start that again, Harley," I warned, starting to feel another argument coming on now as she placed her hand on my arm.

"I know what love looks like in someone' s eyes. You have it bad, like how I had it once for someone," She explained in a serious tone as we were talking side by side, "He has it bad too, you just don't see it like how I see it."

I stayed quiet as she said this and walked forward ahead of me, looking over to the back of Diablo's head as he was walking along. Did I have it bad? For someone, I would see from time to time in prison and now out in the field where we both could die at any second? It seemed impossible for me to think about and to register, the whole thought, in general, didn't seem possible.

Then again, this whole shit hole of a situation was impossible, and yet we were proving it wrong.

* * *

The helicopter itself was shattered up and around, with the rain still coming down and some of it in shambles, I figured she would be dead by now. But from the looks of it, there was nobody as the rest of us waited on the outside with Flag looking on the inside.

"So let me guess, we're going to the swirling ring of trash in the sky. You know, 'cause why wouldn't we?" Deadshot asking him as Harley and Croc were looking up at the beam of some kind of energy and light shooting up and the debris circling around it like a halo. We were getting closer and closer now, and it was getting real within the pit of my stomach with what was about to happen.

"When does this end, Flag?" Deadshot asked him finally.

"Load up, we're in for a fight," He replied back to Deadshot before once again moving away from him. The rest of us followed suit, Deadshot staying behind now to get some weapons for himself. I had to think of the same thing in my own head: When was this whole thing going to end? When was I going to be allowed by own freedom? At this point, walking along the street and getting closer to maybe what could be my deathbed, I didn't care about the freedom anymore.

I just wanted out of here.

"If it helps," I heard next to me as Diablo walked up to walked next to me and to be in the same stride, "I'm glad you're out here."

"Why you figure?" I asked.

"Better out here and knowing what you can do than being back at the prison and rotting away," He replied to me, having me think about it really wonder if he was right, "Besides, I got to see you in action."

"The same with you," I agreed.

"Not that I wanted to do any of that," he countered, having me fall silent as to knowing how he felt about the whole thought of using his abilities. Did something go so and in his past? I wasn't a metahuman that wanted to embark her ability to the fullest tan wreak havoc, that was no my scene. But I knew that being ashamed of it would lead to certain despair in a person, and maybe Diablo was in the same boat.

Deadshot walked past the whole lot of us in a fast stride, almost like he was about to power walk as he had something like a binder in one of his hands. Before I could even see what was it, he threw it, launching the binder at Flag and hitting the car right in front of the soldier to stop him. Flag stopped,s being the binder break apart and the pages sprawled out on the floor before he looked at Deadshot now.

"You tell everybody everything, or me and you gonna go right now."

What in the hell? We all looked at Flag now as we could see him have some kind of secret there on his face, not understand what Deadshot went, but from how I could see some pictures there on the pages that fell out of the binder, he found something that he didn't like at all. Everyone was watching him as he shifted a bit there in his stance.

"Three days ago, a non-human entity appeared in the subway station. So Waller sent me and a woman with incredible abilities. A witch." He explained, having my eye go wide now as he went on, "See, nobody could get near this thing, but the witch could. Needless to say, the whole thing was a and idea. And that's who she escaped from Waller. So now you know."

It felt like a bomb was underneath us and it went off.

This was slowly making sense, it was and it wasn't at the same time. We were sent here, to not only find someone who was important that turned out to be Waller herself but to help destroy some sort of witch? it was now officially suicidal as Deadshot nodded his head, already beyond pissed about it and how we were basically going to a death trap and with no way out.

"You can just kill me right now, but I'm going to have a drink," He said it so nonchalantly as he moved away from the group to the building on the right, not looking back now as to show that he was officially done with all that we went through. It was over for Deadshot.

"Hey, Deadshot. I need your help." Flag tried to reason, keeping his head down and knowing that he made a mistake with the group there in front of him.

"No, sir. You need a miracle," Deadshot said to him as he went into the bar without turning back. Harley then bowed to Flag, as if she was walking off the stage and then walking to follow Deadshot to the bar. Two down, and who was going to be the next one as it was sinking into all of us?

Boomerang left then, grinning at Flag one last time before he walked in with a pep in his step, leaving myself with Diablo and Croc. I stared him down now, seeing him analyze me carefully as I finally spoke up the one thing on my mind.

"Me too, Flag?" I asked him, seeing him say nothing. He knew that I was going to die too, that I wasn't a villain and the like I had in prison was at fault, but I was still going to die like one. There was no hope for a future for me, a freedom out of the prison. He knew it, and I knew it. It felt like he slapped me across the face and spat on my grave that was fresh and ready for occupation. I hated it, and I wanted to strangle him with my diamond hands to see him choke.

"Come on," Diablo urged me, gently tapping me on the arm and Croc was following up right behind him. I followed the two of them now without turning back, my chest feeling like it was hardened and turned to stone, all from the simple betrayal of trust.

I was used to it I guess.


	11. Chapter 11

Author's Note: Another non-action chapter, but it's the bar scene in the movie. I hope I did it right and brought some more depth to Rose and her background. Next one's an action one I promise!

Leave love in a review!

* * *

"Here's to honor among thieves," I looked over to Deadshot as he was raising a shot glass, Boomerang on one side of him, Diablo on the other side some stools down. Harley was behind the bar, Croc was sitting at one of the booths in the back, and I was on the other side of Diablo. I wasn't fleecing like talking, with the slow moving music in the background and the heaviness of what we all realized mere minutes beforehand, It didn't feel like a toast should be risen up at all.

"I'm not a thief," Katan replied to him softly as she walked away from him.

"Well, she's not a thief," He said in a optimistic way, all of them clinging glasses and raising them to one another as I stayed quiet, "And neither is Talbert down there, but she's one of us now" Some of them looked down my way as I was looking ahead, seeing my tattoo in the palm on my one hand and another tattoo that I got on the other, the words Por Vida were etched into my skin there with another small diamond at the top of it.

"Well, we almost pulled it off..depsite what everybody thought. The worst part of it is, they're going to blame us for the whole thing. And they can't have people knowing the truth." Harley was nodding along with her blue tropical drink and Boomerang was listening in with his Guinness canned beer, but I kept look gin ahead and drinking in all that he had to say about it.

"We're the patsies, The cover-up. Don't forget, we're the bad guys," He reminded them, pausing for a second before he went on, "Well, most of us are the bad guys. We have some good ones amongst that that some kind of hope for a future out there." I knew he was talking about me as I looked down at my own drink, a rum and coke that Harley made me without asking me what I wanted. Diablo looked over at me too, staying quiet with his own glass in front of him as I breathe out slowly and tapped my fingers together there on the top, one of my infers turning into a diamond and the sound of the surfaces hitting together was ringing in the room.

"For about two sweet seconds…I had hope," Deadshot said to Diablo now, with a small sense of reality there on his face as I looked too, seeing that he really did have hope that we could pull something like this off and get away with it clean. Their lives were more at stake than my own, if I was thinking about it right, they made more to fight for than me.

Diablo scoffed at him lightly as Katana moved over to stand next to me at one end of the bar, "You had hope, huh? Hope don't stop the wheel from turning, my brother."

"You preaching?" Deadshot asked him

"It's coming back around for you. How many people you killed, man?" I shot a look over at Diablo now as he was saying this to Deadshot, and I feel an augment coming on.

"Don't," I wanted him quietly, but he wasn't listening.

"You don't ask nobody no question like that, _ese,"_ Deadshot warned him.

"You ain't ever whacked down no women? No Kids? " Diablo asked him, still going on with his stare and tone at Deadshot.

"I don't kill women or children," Deadshot said in a low tone now and without hesitation. Diablo nodded his head, but he was still focused there and looked too wound up that he was about to explode.

"I do. See, I was born with the Devil's gift. I kept it hidden for most of my life, but…the older I got, the stronger I got. So I started using it, a business you know. The more power on the street I got, the more firepower I got. Like that shit went hand in hand. You know? One the feeding the other. Ain't nobody tell me no. Except for my old lady, she used to pray for me, even when I didn't want it." He explained calmly, having me see that he got a bit soft from talking about her, almost like it was a touchy subject. Maybe it was, and I stayed quiet as he talked some more

He held out his hand, a small flame was there and it looked like a figure of some human being, but at first I didn't know who it was. It took me a second to realize that it was the woman that he was talking about, the woman there in flames dancing in the palm of his hand and he looked at it in sorrow before he looked back at Deadshot.

"God didn't give me this. Why should he take it away?" He asked him, but mostly in himself now as the figure kept dancing, almost making me realize slowly what he was talking about. In the past, some hurts before, I knew he talked about himself being a monster and never using his powers, and I felt like it was all going to circle back to what he was about to confess out loud.

"See, when I get mad, I lose control. You know, I just…I don't know what I do….till it's done." He placed an empty glass over the figure in flames, the figure struggling to get some breath there before the fire went out. I sat here in silence, seeing him look at the empty glass now and the abounded fire and I saw it all over this face. There was guilt, regret, sadness and pain there. Now it looked like he was struggling to breathe, almost on the verge of tears as he was still staring at the glass.

"And the kids?" Boomerang asked, almost in hope now and having me forget that he was listening in.

"He killed them, didn't you?" Harley asked Diablo now as she answered Boomerang's question. I felt terrible for Diablo, seeing him look beyond sad to think of just that memory and to be brought back to that place. Instantly I reached over, not saying a word since it wouldn't feel right, touching his arm there with the tips of my fingers. I knew he needed space, but I also knew that grief needed comfort, even when it was not voiced. Diablo flinched but didn't shove me away as I kept my hold of him there. Boomerang and Deadshot had their heads down, either in grief too or in respect.

"Own that shit. Own it!" Harley snapped at him now in her cool tone as I shot a look at her, "What'd you think was gonna happen? Huh?"

"Hey, Harley. Come on," Deadshot tried to stop her calmly.

"What, you were just…..thinking you can have a happy family and coach little league and make car payments?" I could see Diablo getting angry again now as I was still having a hold on his arm in case he was about to snap at her.

"Normal's a setting on the dryer. People like us, we don't get normal!" She said to him in a stern manner now.

"Stop it, Harley," I said to her in my own low manner as Boomerang snapped at her now.

"Why is it always a knife fight every single time you open your mouth?" He asked her, seeing her go quiet and watch him now, "You know, outside, you're amazing. But inside, you're ugly."

"We all are," She reminded him, "We all are! Except for him." She craned her neck to Croc who growled at her, "He's ugly on the outside, too."

"Not me, shorty," Croc replied, moving his hoodie off for us to see his whole face, "I'm beautiful."

"Yeah, you are." Harley agreed with her wicked grin, then looking over at me now as I was still holding not Diablo's arm, "So is Talbert over here. She's the only other one here who ain't ugly inside and out."

"That's not true," I argued softly, the others looking at me now in wonder as I said it in a raspy manner, thinking of the past and how Diablo made me remember all that happened to me, "I'm tainted, not beautiful."

"Bullshit you're tainted," Diablo said to me as he watched me, the both of us side by side, "Out of all of us, you're not tainted."

"Waller didn't tell you anything about me, did she?" I asked him, but mostly to the rest of the group as they were watching me, "Of course she wouldn't she wouldn't tell shit to us if she knew it would be going south for the mission." I took in a deep breath before I looked over at Diablo, seeing him look at me and wait on my every word there, knowing that I was about to open a floodgate and pour out my life to them, all of whom I was still scratching the surface. I moved my hand away from his arm now, seeing the tattoo in the palm of my hand there.

"You think you're a monster?" I asked him carefully now, keeping my diamond finger there on the surface of the lit bar, "What happened to you and your family was because of something was out on of your control. That doesn't make you a monster, Diablo. Believe you me, I _lived_ with one."

No one said a word as the last sentence felt like venom seeping under the skin as I held out my hand in front of me and it was slowly crystallizing there in front of me to see the different of colors there coming from the light.

"My own father never wanted to have someone like me, he told me so himself when I was 6 years old….6. What kind of adult would talk like that to a child? My father hated me when it found out what I could do, he called me a freak and a bad omen from God himself. If it wasn't for my mother and her fighting with him, I would have died long from the beatings." I could picture it in my head, every single time he was looking down at me with shame there on his face and hate for me. I hated those memories.

"I tried to make the best of it when I got older, avoiding him when I would come home. My mother tried to make the best of it herself, but the older I got, the harsher he was to me. Roughing me up here and there, and they were small at first. But the beatings….man were they ugly," I could feel a tear coming through and escaping down my cheek as I pointed, with my diamond hand, to my scar there along my cheek and moved my face over for them to see.

"You see this?" I asked, none of them saying anything now as I went on and tapped my skin there to feel the dent from the scar, "8 years ago my old man threw it at me because I told him something that he didn't like. Just for talking…and he'll scar and damage me to let me know that I was worth less than the dirt under his Goddamn feet. That is a monster, in my opinion, someone who lives to bring others pain and horror. He never loved me, never looked at me as his daughter, but as someone who brings shame….someone who he would disown and….turn over to the police for profit." The last bit, the one part that I threaten to bury with my past and with what I didn't want to surface, now it the in the open and for all to witness and see. My hand went back to normal now, almost shaking there.

"Holy shit," Boomerang said in a low manner, almost in a mourning kind of way.

"Your own father threw you in prison because of who you are," Harley said in a sinister manner, gripping her hand around the handle of her drink, which was surprising me from who she as reacting to the whole thing.

"That's why I was there, at Belle Reeve," I said shortly, "He threw me in for a lousy $1,000 reward." Hell, how they were reacting to the whole thing, none of them were making fun of me or brushing it all off. They were accepting it, and feeling the same feelings I was feeling. I was letting them in, and they were coming along for the ride.

"Where is the bastard?" Diablo asked in a low growl, looking down at his joined hands that were locked together on top of the bar.

"What?" I asked, sniffling away a tear there.

"Where is he?" He was making about my father, and how he asked me made me think that he was about to go out on a murder rampage because of what he was hearing and what was going on. Was he that affected by it, from what he heard me tell him? I didn't know how to react from it now as I shook my head.

"I don't know, never heard from since he called the cops," I answered, seeing him almost steaming from the whole story. I wanted to instantly regret anything that I told him, of all people since he had a stressed out life too, but he had to know that he was no monster compared to my father. Diablo was a victim of his own power, in a way when he had moments that he didn't know what he was doing. But my father, he knew, and he knew and never regretted it.

The door opened behind us, all of us looking to see a slow walking Flag coming over to sit between Deadshot and Diablo. We were not assumed to him, hell, we have him a confused look as to why he was there as Harley was the one who spoke up what was on our minds.

"We don't want you here." She said to him in a rash tone, but he was looking right at Deadshot. I didn't want to be in the room anymore, getting up from my own spot and walking out of the room and out of the way since it felt like I was suffocating.

"Talbert?" Deadshot asked, seeing me walk away.

"I need air," I said shortly as I walked out into the darkness and back out into the rain, feeling as though I could breathe. I never told anyone what happened to me, about my father and what he did to me so that feeling of a weight off my shoulder and waves of sadness over me was raw and new and it was confusing for me, not to mention scary as well.

I leaned against the window there out in the open and I closed my eyes, tears coming down my face. I wanted to hide, to get away from here and find someplace safe and out of this own reality that I was suffering in. I was slowly dying from all that was happening to me, and I wanted it to end.

Will it end?


	12. Chapter 12

5 Years Ago.

It was a nightmare, a complete nightmare as they were placing the cuffs on me and walking me out of the dorms and into the cop car. It was late in the night, someone coming into my dorm and asking me for my name before they threw on the cuffs around my wrists and walked me out, telling me my Miranda Rights since it was courteous enough. But I knew what they were doing, I had some kind of made idea the weren't looking at me in the eye or walking a wee bit away from me.

The police car lights were blazing in front of me as a crowd was forming outside, seeing me being escorted into the back of the police car and not saying a word. I was thinking about my mother, where she was and if she knew what was happening to me in this moment. But how could she know, they weren't going to tell her anything about me being gone, they might cover it up. They ducked my head down as I was sitting in the backseat and I heard door closed, letting it sink in.

I was like the rest of the metahumans: I was being rounded up.

* * *

Present Day

The rain finally died down and I moved my hair away from my eyes, breathing in the cold air that the rain brought in and seeing the glow of the street lights in the darkness of the city. I should just walk away from this whole thing now, get back to the prison and just call it quits. It didn't feel worth it at this point, not with what I went through and how I was unfolding myself with the villains back there in the bar. They didn't hate me, or ignore me when I told them, which mad me wonder how they really felt about me. They accepted me to fight with them, sure, and they seemed to like me.

But was that about it?

The doors opened, having me look over around the corner to see them all coming out, on by one now and back over to the main street there. They all saw me, and they were all giving me short smiles there as Diablo was the last one out of the bar. Something shifted in all of them, a new sense of a light was filling time to keep going compared to before when we were just done playing these games.

"I'll talk to her, guys," Diablo reassured them, Harley nodded her head with a grin as the others walked up, following Flag out there on the street with a few of his SEAL's that were left over. Diablo walked over to me now as I shoved my hands in my pockets and I eyed him, wondering what he was going to say to me then.

"I don't belong here," I said to him before he could say anything else, "I'm a bad guy, and I don't have anything else to fight for."

"I don't think that's true," He advised me, close enough for me to hear the softness there in his voice as I was eyeing him to see what he was going to tell me, "After what I heard what happened to you, I think you do belong here with us. Takes a lot for someone to stick around and still stay sane after what happened to you, for what he did to you."

"I did it for my mother, not for myself," I reminded him, seeing him look bit agitated when my father was brought into the conversation, "He could try and hurt me all he wanted, I could take the pain, it's was just the stuff he would do to my mother that killed me in the end," He stayed quiet then, looking back at the group that was still walking and then shifting a bit in his stance.

"We want you here, you know?" He asked me, having me look at him in confusion.

"Why?" I asked, thinking that I had to head it seem one of them, even if it was Diablo.

"Because you don't see us as the bad guys," He made it sound so simple, having me stay quiet there as he then reached out his hand for me, the tattoos there on his hand were glistening a bit on the skin from the rain and I looked down at it. He wanted me to go with them, to at least ride out this mission in glory and see if we could do some kind of good in this situation. Just like was Deadshot said in the bar.

I took his hand, the both of us holding hands there in silence now as I could feel the warmth of his skin against my own skin, cool from the rain but war from the temperature. It felt almost calmly and soothing now as I saw him giving me a warm look, a small smile there and I smiled slightly back. I then knew that he was no monster, that what happened to him was a mere act of his powers, not from himself, and he had more of a heart than he was willing to show and share. Was he afraid to show it? Afraid of losing his heart again like he did before with his family?

Was that going to be me?

I walked with Diablo over to the rest of the group to catch up now on the street, Harley looking behind to see me there next to Diablo and she winked at me before looking ahead again. Boomerang grinned as I was catching up walk alongside him and Croc.

"Glad you're back in the game, Sheila. Shall we got down in a blaze of glory?" he asked me as I smirked at him.

"How else would I go out?" I replied, hearing him chuckle now as I was getting back into my groove. Who knew where I was going to end up, who my life was going to look when the sun came up, and if I was ever going to have some kind of family again. But with this group of misfits, all walkie together with our own baggage and guilt hanging over us like rain clouds, it was better than being alone I guess.

I had another family.

* * *

Boomerang threw out one of his devices and it spun away, looking back at the mobile phone there as Flag and Deadshot did the same. Harley, Croc, Diablo and I were standing in the back, I was mostly trying to get my energy back in tune now since I felt like I was going to be using a lot of it in the next part of this mission.

"We need to take out the big one," Deadshot said now as Flag agreed, thinking to himself now as I was closing my eyes and breathing in and now, over and over now with Diablo standing a bit close to me.

"You good?" He asked me, having me shake my head since it felt like nothing was worn to have me get the adrenaline back in my system again to get my metahuman part into shape again.

"I don't think I can do it," I said to him in a huff, "My energy's too low, I need some kind of boost."

"What kind of boost?" He asked, sounding a bit concerned about it as I was thinking in my head in the past and how I made it better with my ability.

"I need a rush, almost like a shot in the adrenaline to make it work," I explained, thinking that I had no adrenaline left in me and it was not going to be a pretty fight if I wasn't up to my best.

"Need to punch something in the face? Kiss someone? Or how about you go and punch a wall? I know how much you wanna punch Boomerang in the face," Harley suggested as I eyed her and I saw him winking at me, motioning with her head at Diablo now with her wicked grin. Was she suggesting something? I didn't know what, but I knew it was something along the lines of the both of us together.

She wasn't going to give up that dream anytime soon.

After we thought of a plan, we were waiting there in what looked like the lobby that would lead to the subway. It was overflowed with water, so the SEAL's along with Croc were getting ready for their part of the plan as we were waiting and prepping ourselves. Some of us were prepping really, Boomerang was sharpening his weapons and Deadshot was making sure his guns were loaded and safe. I was flexing my diamond formed arm and legs to make sure that the were feeling good and loose now, getting my mind cleared but hearing something in the background. It made me look to see Katana talking to her sword and she was speaking in her native language.

"The man who killed her husband used that sword. His soul's trapped inside of it. She talks to him." Flag explained as some of the others were listening to him and I was watching her talk to the sword, almost weeping now as she was speaking so softly and with feeling.

"Yeah, well you know what they say about the crazy ones," Boomerang replied in his amused tone. Harley looked over at him with her own innocent face.

"Huh?" She asked and some of the others were smiling. I looked back to my diamond formed arms and legs. I had to think of something, get something flowing in my head as adrenaline in order to make sure I was ready enough to go in and not get in trouble with my ability. I thought about my father, how much I hated him and wanted to hurt him so and that it was bringing me rage from the inside out. The scar on my face, the shame he made me feel.

"Shit," I opened my eyes and I saw something on the floor, sticking out and poking out like it was prickly grass. But it wasn't grass, no, it was something else. They were small diamonds, looking odd from being stuck there on the floor there near my feet and I saw Diablo, who was sitting at the top of the escalator, looking down in shock too.

Did that come from me?

"What the hell?" I asked to myself, holding up my hands to see if it was true. It was, the palm of both of my hands were bumpy like something was sticking to the up and not letting me go. Those came from me, from the inside of me and out from my hands? I was shocked, that never happened to me before. Most of the time when I used my ability, I was calm and in control. This was a first that it felt so raw and uncontrolled that something like that was thrown out.

"Looks like you found your niche, doll face," Harley said in a low manner as she saw too, having me squat down and touch one of the diamonds that was sticking out. I threw it out, all from what I was feeling and what was controlling me and holding me down.

Was my father the trigger?

"Let's do this," Flag said to us, and we each followed him one by one now over to where he was leading us, back another way into the subway station.

* * *

I was in the middle as we walked down the stairs and into the darkness of the abandoned station, having me see all the raw materials that were sticking out and around the colors, hanging in the air from the floor, or already consuming some of the corpses that were on the ground. I wanted to know now what we were really dealing it, how powerful it was, and if we stood a single chance at it. No one said a word, we were watching the hold thing in front of us as Flag took us to one of the stairs that would lead up to our eventual battle with whatever being could be there.

"You gonna fight with us?" Deadshot asked Diablo in front of me.

"What if I lose control?" Diablo asked back.

"The maybe we'll have a chance," Deadshot replied as we ascended the stairs.

Everything was illuminated by the glowing light as we were on the balcony, something was moving around and looking sinister in the air as we reached the side of the large room near the columns. It was sounding sinister too, like bad energy swirling and twisting into the sky as we were moving along, trying not to be seen at all now.

"Duck in," Flag whispered to us as we moved to hide behind the columns, down in a row. Flagg with Deadshot, Harley, myself and Diablo, then Katana and Boomerang as I looked around the corner briefly to see something mystical, some kind of person really with light flowing out of her and massive soldiers on either side of her guarding her as she worked. The noise sounded like lightning and thunder all around, the light itself seemed blue and purple. It was all both memorizing and terrifying at the same time.

"Hey, everyone can see all this truly, magic stuff, right?" Harley asked the group in hesitance.

"Yeah. Why?" Deadshot asked.

"I'm off my meds." She said in a dry chuckle as I was looking forward again, thinking of how we were going to battle whatever she was, or it was.

"So that's your old lady huh?"

"Yeah."

"Well, you need to handle this shit, all right? Get up there, smack on her ass, tell her, 'knock this shit off'." Deadshot explained to Flag.

"I do not think that'd be wise. I'm gonna draw out the big one, my boys will detonate the bomb underneath him." Flag advised him now before we heard another voice fill the room, a delicate yet booming voice now as it was loud and entrancing at the same time.

"I've been waiting for you all night. Step out of the shadows, I will not bite."

We all looked at each other now, Diablo shaking his head slowly and I did the same since it felt like a terrible idea. Harley scoffed a bit and she started to walk out, Deadshot grabbing her before she could do anything else and she was now sandwiched between Flag and Deadshot.

"Why are you here? Because the soldier lead you, and all for Waller. Why do you serve those who cage you? I am your ally. And I know what you want. Exactly what you want."

Then my vision went black.


	13. Chapter 13

Author's Note: Here's the big battle here folks! I hope you like what I did! I pictured a "normal" Diablo to look liek Jay Hernandez, the actor who played him. I think he's handsome and sweet in the face, so picture the actor in this next sequence.

Leave love in a review!

* * *

 _It was like I was back at home, back to a normal life._

 _I could hear my mother at the piano, playing another jazz tune there and moving her fingers along the key as I walked through, seeing a smile there on her face as the humid summer wind came through the open windows of the living room. It was my childhood house, lighter and with trained views of shame, pain or anger. Everything looked pleasant, along hazy at the same time as I was walking over to the kitchen, hearing someone in there humming away and working on what would have looked like dinner._

 _Turning the corner, I saw it was someone there who was the same, and yet looked different. He was a tall young man, a bit older than me with short brown hair that was buzzed. tan skin and a glow to it. He was workmen away on what looked like a salad, a small smile on his lips as he was wearing a long sleeve shirt and fitted jeans and sneaker. For some reason, he reminded me of those Louisiana boys from the Fraternities that were filled with yuppies and high society money. But he looked familiar, way too familiar as I grinned from ear to ear now and he looked over at me. Those war born eyes, reminded me of chocolate and trees, I knew who it was._

 _It was Diablo, but he looked….so normal and clean._

 _"Hello beautiful," He said in his tone, the same one that the old Diablo had as he walked over, leaving the salad behind and he wrapped his arms around me, holding me close and I hugged him back. What was going on? Was this a dream or a nightmare? Why was I not in control of this? I felt like I was snuggling into him. Was this something that I wanted._

 _A normal life with a normal Diablo?_

 _"Hello sweetheart," I looked to hear another voice, I voice that I haven't heard in year and I thought I would never hear again, I poked my head from being near Diablo's chest as I saw someone's backside and they were approaching my mother at the piano, kissing her cheek and having me hear her giggle now as he then looked over at me. I was wide-eyed now as someone was calling out my name in the distance, telling me that something wasn't real. But I was staring at him._

 _My father, grinning at me from ear to ear._

 _"Hello, Rose. How are you my darling?"_

* * *

 _"_ It's not real! Wake up!"

I felt his hands on my arms, shaking me slightly. It was having me snap awake and realize that I was back in the subway station, the darkness was all over me and the noise was getting louder and louder. Diablo was in front of me, the old Diablo that I knew with the tattoos and his warm eyes, and he was watching me as I was blinking a few more times.

"It's not real _Diamante_." He said to me, having me breathe out slowly as he then released me and walked over to Harley, Flag, and Deadshot.

"It's not real," He told the three of them.

"I killed the Bat," Deadshot said to him in a monotone.

"Nah, homie. You don't want that," Diablo reasoned with him.

"What? I want that." Harley said too, having me see that she too was snapping out of it, whatever it was that we were experiencing.

"She trying to play games with you, man. It's not real!" He explained, pointing to his head as the three of them were realizing what was going on, and so was I. That Witch was making us hallucinate and think of things that were no longer real and was not possible on being real. My father loving me, a normal Diablo loving me, and my mother being completely healthy again. None of that was real and it wasn't going to be in the future. He saw through it.

"He's right, It's not real," Flag said in a bitter manner now and I was feeling the fuel of hate towards this with now all over. How dare she try to think that she could fix something that was beyond damage, to bring something back that I wanted but I knew I could never have. That was the straw on the cell's back for me, and before I could think I was already walking towards her with a pep in my step and anger there in my stance and face. She was not going to play with me, and I was over having that past ruin my life.

Diablo walked up behind me, along with the rest of the group as we were approaching her now in the middle of the room.

"How long have been able to see?" The witch asked Diablo, whom stood next to me and was not moving at all.

"My whole life," He replied confidently, my diamond form already morphing over my body starting at my chest and it was seeping all over through and through, "You can't have them. These are my people right here."

"But it is our time. The sun is setting, and the magic rises. The metahumans are a sign of change," She explained to all of us, but none of us moved and I could see the heat coming off of Diablo now as I went into full diamond form. I stood a ready stance there as Deadshot pointed at her.

"Lady, you are evil!" He said in a proclamation as she then turned to something in the darkness back there, talking in some kind of native language and we all looked to see what it was. A larger form, the big one that we were afraid off, walking over from the side of the station. It was way taller than any of us, looking fierce and ancient with almost a human face, but it was wrapped. This was beyond trouble.

"Oh wow,"

"Uh-oh." Harley wanted as we were watching with wide eyes.

"Who's this?!" Boomerang asked as the being descended down the stairs. I took a few steps back, near Diablo now as I was thinking of how I was going to fight this thing, hell how we all were going to fight this thing.

"It's gonna be bad!"

"We should run!" Deadshot warned as Flag lifted his gun and open fired. It didn't do a damn thing now as the being shot out something close to vines and fire out of his hands, at right us as we all ducked out of the way in order to not get hit. Deadshot and flag hid behind one pillar as the being shot out at them, then going after Katana and Boomerang on the other side.

"GQ come in we're in position," Flag said into his com piece as Boomerang threw his weapon, but it bounced off the beam and lit on fire. I saw the being looking over in my direction now, throwing out a fired vine at me and I felt him sweep me over to the pillar and I hit hard, not in real pain but it knocked me good as I fell to the floor and shot out from diamonds at him, channeling my anger. The diamonds hit him, but it was not effective and more of an irritation than anything.

"We got get him in that corner, that's where the bomb will be," Flag explained to Diablo and Deadshot as I shot another wave of diamonds at him to get him over in my direction, at least to buy them time to plan something for this thing.

"I'll do it! I'll get him there," Diablo explained to Flag now in determination as the being was not focused on Boomerang, kicking a long wooden pew row at him to trap him in a spot against the pillar and pin him down. Before the being could touch him with a lit up hand, Katana jumped out of nowhere and swiped at his hand with her sword. But the hand grew back on his hand as I ran over to help Boomerang.

"Come get me!" I yelled at the being, seeing him eye me now as I threw up my hands to block anything that he could throw.

"Shelia, don't!" Boomerang wanted as the being threw out a fiery vine, but the diamonds shooting out of my hand blocked them and shredded some of them to pieces. I felt myself being pushed back by the force against the pew that Boomerang was stuck under, but I wasn't going to give up that easily.

"I lost one family. I ain't gonna lose another one!"

"Think it through."

"I got this. Let me show you what I really am." I could hear Diablo and Deadshot talking to each other in the corner as I then lost a small grip and one of the vines got me around the neck, blocking me from my breathing now as the being was lifting me up in the air, strangling me high up and I was trying to breathe. The force of his vice grip on me was enough for my diamond form to start cracking, having me trying to wrestle myself out of it now and feeling my head get light and fuzzy. I was about to loose my life there.

" _Diamante_!" Diablo screamed out as he ran over and threw out his hands at the being, "Over here!" His flames bit the being hard, engulfing me as well but I wasn't feeling it because of my diamond form. The grip on me loosened from the assault from Diablo as I fell to the floor in a heap and tried to breathe, my diamond form going back to human now since the damage on me was severe. I coughed fit, stuck there on the floor as Diablo was fighting off the being there on his own.

"I got ya!" Boomerang grabbed my vest with his hands and pulled me back away from the fight as I saw Diablo getting kicked and flowed back into what looked like an office. I panicked, but out of breath but still panicking as I saw this, thinking that he was doing for. Deadshot and Harley went after the being, but they were tossed aside like they were puppets and I felt like I was the only one left that had some kind of fighting chance with that thing to take it down.

Then I heard it, a Roar.

Boomerang helped me up and I stood with him and Harley from the sound. We all looked to seeing some sort of another being, this one file with fire and rage coming from the same place that Diablo was sent to. It was taller and looked like a skeleton with a headpiece of fire and a fierceness to him. I looked in amazement as we all knew who it was.

Diablo.

They were sparring each other, the rest of us not being able to do anything but watch in amazement and horror as one took a swing at the other, the other was trying to dodge it. They both were powerful and they both almost the apprehend, it was just a matter or who was going to win now as Flag spoke up finally.

"Diablo, get him in the corner, now!"

Diablo pushed him back to the corner, reaching into its chest and grabbing something like he was squishing his heart. I could hear the other egging him on, to finish that monster and to finish this whole thing since it was up to him. But he lost his footing and the being grabbed him around his throat and threw him down, having him go back to his normal human form now as he was trying to break the mold.

This was not good, he was about to get killed if he didn't move. I couldn't let that happen, not to him. He had another chance to make things right, I knew he did and he wanted it more than anything. I didn't want him to die, I was going to forbid it.

"Diablo, get clear! Get outta there!" Flagg yelled at him.

"Blow it!" Diablo yelled at Flag with his fire eyes, his voice sounding so booming now as he said this. The rest of us looked at him now, thinking that he wasn't going to do it, praying that he didn't. I panicked looking back at Diablo once more and seen him lock eyes with me now, seeing that pain there as we looked at each other. I couldn't do it, I couldn't see this now and I felt like I had to protect him, even with my own life in the balance. I felt my diamond form coming over me without me really doing it, it was acting on its own now as I was still watching him.

"Blow it," Deadshot said to Flag.

"Now, GQ, now," he said mournfully as I decided to run, run towards Diablo and not think about it. He had to be saved, he had to live.

"NO!" Harley screamed at him,

"Everybody down!" Flag yelled, but he was seeing me run out there at a fast pace as I threw out my hands in tow different place. One was at Diablo, the other at the being's hand. My diamonds were stricking the behind's hands. releasing his grip on Diablo's throat and making him free. Then diamonds struck out a Diablo, pushing him out for the way and having him slide over for me to run over in his place.

"HIT ME!" I screamed at the being now as I threw my hands at him.

"TALBERT!" Deadshot yelled at I aimed one more hand at the being and shot out some more before I felt everything, and saw everything go black.

"NO!" Diablo screamed.

I was hit, and it felt like I was falling.


	14. Chapter 14

I could hear my mother, the hymns she used to sing when I was younger to calm me down and help me from the nightmares that I would. Her sweet voice filled my head, almost calming down the ache that I was feeling over my body. But I didn't know where I was if I was still alive or dead, and where the others were.

What happened to me?

"No. no no no please no…please wake up. Don't do this, come on."

I could hear his voice, sounding so desperate and so concerning for me as I was still out of it and unconscious, once again hearing my mothers' singing in my ear and feeling as though I was about to drift into heaven. It felt like I was, something or someone pulling me up by my shoulders and arms, the feeling of being pressed into something warm and comforting, and then hearing other voices that were close and yet so far away.

"Is she alive?"

"I think she's still breathing.

"We need to finish this, finish off that bitch once and for all!"

"Diablo, stay with her and stay out of sight!"

I could see him in my head, how his eyes looked compared to the rest of the world and how his eyes made me feel safe. It was odd for me to feel like this to someone like Diablo, and it hadn't been feeling like that inside of me in a long time. I wondered who it happen or why it did, or even if it was left up to fate to something else. Who knew? I didn't, but I was more occupied with the fact that I was in limbo with life or death.

"I got you, open your eyes for me. Please, _Diamante_ , please wake up for me." He sounded so sad and desperate, and I wondered for a split second as to why he would fret over someone like me. I knew what I did, acting on a selfless act if someone wanted to see it as Selfless. But other could see it as selfish, not understanding why I did what I did. But I knew he needed another chance at life, all of them did, which was why they were doing this in the first place. Get time off their sentences and then go out.

As for me, my time was already ending.

* * *

I woke up in what looked like a medical wing, three of the walls were concrete and blank with at least one monitor that had what looked like my X-Ray of my chest and arms. The other wall and a large window that filled the whole wall from top to bottom, having me see outside a hallway that also had concrete walls. I blinked, my eyes were feeling heavy and my whole body was aching all around. My arms were bandaged up, along with my hands there and one of my hands was handcuffed to the railing of my bed. Well, that's reassuring I guess.

But where was I really?

My heart monitor was beeping nice and slow, the smell of medicine and disaffected tools were filling my nostrils and I was getting some of the pieces placed together in my head now as I was looking up and around to get some kind of clue as to where I was. But it was about to be answered when I looked over to see the door opening and none other than Amanda Waller, along with a doctor with a file in his hand, coming in. I looked at Waller in shock, how was it that she was alive? I didn't know what to think of her at this point, since the last time I saw her physically she tried to get Harley killed. So why was she here in the first place, wherever here was.

"How are you feeling, Rose?" She asked me, calmly, having me look at her in confusion as the Doctor walked over to the foot of my bed and grabbed my binder there to look at.

"Fine…" I trailed off, seeing her nod her head shortly before motioning to the Doctor.

"If you're still feeling out of it and heavy in the head, the Doctor didn't know why much pain killers to give you since you have a high tolerance for pain," She explained, making me look at the Doctor now as he looked at my information up and down.

"You suffered from heavy trauma from the explosion, a few fractured bones here and there along the forearms, they could have been shattered if it wasn't for your ability. But for now, you have fabric casts on both wrists for a few weeks. nothing vital happened to your organs, which was lucky save to say the very least, and you had a concussion as well. All in all, better than what we hoped. In a few days, you're free to go," He explained to both me and Amanda Waller.

"Thank you, Doctor James. Can I have a moment alone with her please before you give her more treatment?" She asked him, seeing him then nod and walk out of the room with a small close of the door. I was left there alone with Amanda now, seeing her watch me carefully and keeping a good distance there between us as I was giving her some kind of stare, I didn't know what kind, but it was enough for her to start talking.

"I assume you have plenty of questions for me," She said to me, shifting a bit in her spot and I nodded my head slowly.

"I'll start with an obvious one: Why would I have you be on this mission when I had a good hunch it would fail." She said to me calmly now as she tapped her finger on my file, having me watch her as she went on, "I read up on you, all that happened to you and your family. After what your father did, turning you in for some money in his pocket, I would think that you were someone who just wanted to die and get it over it."

"That's partially true," I added in a grimace.

"But I think I found the opposite in you when I saw you on the roof with the others, how you were fighting with them and helping him. I underestimated you, Rose Talbert. And a deal's a deal: you get your freedom." She said to me now as I looked at her with a raised eyebrow. That lead to another question that I had on my mind.

"What's going to happen to me when I leave the prison? I'm a metahuman, they'll arrest me as soon as they find out and they'll send me back here." I reminded her, knowing that it could be a case with me since I didn't do any kind of crime to be placed here in the prison. It was my DNA that they were afraid off, not my character.

"I'll make sure that it did not happen to you from this point on. You'll be under my care and watchful. As long as your keep a clean record, you'll have no trouble with the police when it comes to you being a metahuman." She explained.

"You have that kind of power?" I asked in a bit of shock.

"A lot of people tend to forget how much power I do have, and that is one of them," She replied, having me sigh and rethink that whole thing in my head.

"So…then that means if I'm going to be working for you and not get in trouble…then I won't be arrested again?" I asked, making sure it was clear enough in my own head. She nodded her head slowly, having me sigh in relief then. It was better than nothing, much better than nothing and looking over my back constantly on rotation.

"I can live with that," I stated.

"Good, I'll keep you in close contact in case the team does need you in the near future," She agreed.

"You're still going to use them?" I asked in confusion.

"Of course. They each got 10 years off their sentences, but they're not completely off the hook. I still have their bombs in their necks," It made me freeze up and reach up slowly to where I knew they placed mine. Before I could even touch the skin there under my ear, Amanda spoke up finally.

"We took yours out while you were unconscious and you were brought in here," She explained as I felt a small gaze there along my skin, a tender spot where I squinted and I looked at her in shock.

"No bomb in me?" I asked plainly.

"Nope. You're no longer a prisoner so I don't need to have that insurance hanging over you," She answered, which was another thing lifted off my chest now as I laid there on the hospital bed, my head already feeling a bit heavy from the drugs that were still lingering inside of me.

"I have one more piece of information to give you before I let the doctor come back in and check up on you," She explained to me now as she then handed me a heavy envelope, something inside that seemed like a bunch of folded up papers as I took them in my hand gently without hurting my hands.

"What's this?" I asked her, about to open the top of the envelope when she answered.

"It's information on your father."

* * *

There was a light tap on the door, having me look away from the wall that I was at and over to where the big window was, seeing familiar faces that were grinning at me from ear to ear, though they were handcuffed and back in their orange prison clothes.

My Suicide Squad.

They filed in, one by one and they looked happy to see me there, not even mad that they were back in prison. Harley's face was beaming, Boomerang's grin was genuine and kind, Deadshot had a smirk on his face, and Croc growled in content there. The only person that was not there, that saddened my heart a bit, was Diablo himself. Where was he? Was he already in trouble?

Did he get hurt, like me?

"Look who's up and lookin' as fresh as a daisy!" Harley chirped at me now as she grinned with her orange just on and her hair in what looked like rollers.

"We were worried about ya, Sheila," Boomerang said to me with his cheeky toothy smile. I looked at each of them now, since I blacked out and the last half of the whole fight.

"What happened back there?" I asked them quietly, wanting to hear it for them and no one else since they were there.

"After you stalled that big ass of a thing, the bomb went off. You were in it, and we thought you were toast and done for," Deadshot explained in his serious tone now as he moved a bit to stand over near me, "Diablo stayed behind with you to protect you, and we took out the Witch once and for all."

"That bitch is long gone," Croc said in agreement.

"No one got hurt, though, did they?" I asked them all in wonder as they were still drinking it in too.

"Naw, we were just fine, dearie. We were more worried about ya, though," Boomerang said to me softly.

"You gave us a scare," Harley added, "We all thought you were a goner, for sure we did for a split second."

"That's a nice thing to say to her while she's in the bed, Harley," Deadshot said in almost a scolding manner.

"What? Ain't I speakin' the truth?" She asked him back, then looking at me "The only one that knew you were alive was Diablo. Hell, he never left your side, not once until we were picked up and brought back here."

"Had to rip him away from you so you can get over to medical," Deadshot added to the story, "He almost burned the whole place down from being away from you."

"Told ya," Harley said to me with a smirk, winking at me once again now as I was giving her an angry look of annoyance since I knew what she was talking about.

"Told her what, shorty?" Croc asked in crusty.

"Nothing," I replied shortly, taking a deep breath before looking at Deadshot now, "Where's Diablo now?"

"Back in his tank," Boomerang answered for him, having me look over at him in sadness, "He wanted to come out, he really did. But he didn't think he wanted you to see him all worked up."

"He has to cool down honey before he can grace you with his response," Harley said in a softer tone now as she could see the distress on my face. I nodded in agreement with that, I would rather have him rational than heated in emotion. He needed to collect himself, as did I in the host pail bed.

"So apparently, Waller's letting me work with you guys, though I'm a free metahuman," I informed them, seeing them grin at me now from hearing the news that I wasn't going to be gone forever. I wonder dhow they were going to react to the news, and now they were grinning from ear to ear as if they were never in prison in the first place.

"Well shit, we get to see you work some more of that magic?" Boomerang asked in glee as Croc chuckled.

"I like seeing that shit," He agreed with Boomerang, Harley winking at me and Deadshot just smiling. It didn't feel too and after all, with what I did and how I handled it. I thought it would be worse, but it ended up much different than I imagine.

My future was getting a wee bit brighter.


	15. Chapter 15

Author's Note: Another snippet of Rose and Diablo. More missions and action coming up, I'll keep it going!

Leave love in a review!

* * *

The door opened, having me move the envelope away from my spot on my lap now as I saw one of the guard poking his head in at me. It's late into the evening, and after having another long nap from the drug that they gave me, I was staying up a bit to get some reading down on my father, or what kind of reading that I wanted to be done. Waller had apparently left all of this information away from me, something was but surprised and unsurprised at the same time. Still, it wasn't my trust issues with her and what she already pulled on me in the past when it came to working for her.

"You have a visitor, is that okay?" The guard asked me, having me nod my head now.

"Usually visiting hours are closed, but Waller said this is an exception to that rule, whatever the hell that means," He explained, opening the door and having me look over to see who he was talking about. I saw another guard, rifle out and ready, walking first, then it was the person that I wanted to see since I woke up in the medical wing of the prison.

Diablo.

He looked into the window, seeing me there in the hospital bed and I saw his eyes going wide slightly, his hands were handcuffed in front of himself now as the guard escorted him into the room now. He looked the same, a bit on the rougher around the edges and back in his orange uniform now as I watched him with a small smile there on my lips. He stood there awkwardly as the first guard looked over at me.

"We'll leave one guard in here, just in case," He reassured me, having me now raise an eyebrow as him since Diablo was looking at him the wrong way.

"You think he's gonna fry me up here and now?" I asked him coldly, the guard pausing and looking at the other now in a wonder of what he should do. Diablo stayed quiet, looking at me as if he was silently asking me if he should torch them both. I shook my head at him now as the first road spoke up again.

"We'll give you some privacy then," he said to me calmly, the both of them walking out of the door now and closing it behind them. I was now there alone with Diablo, the both of us staring at each other and saying nothing at first. What was there to say? What did he want to tell me, about what happened in the past?

"You look okay," I said to him, though that sounded more awkward than anything now as he eyed me up and down. I wanted to know what he was thinking, what was going on in his head.

"You look alive," He replied back smoothly, not wanting it to sound mean or cruel, but more of a fact than anything. I felt like he was about to scold me for what I did, scarfing my own self for him. I was ready for it since for some it was a heroic move, but others it was stupid and selfish. Which one was he?

"I'm glad you came," I voiced to him, wanting him to feel better about this whole situation. He shifted a bit then, thinking to himself. I wanted to know what he was thinking, it felt like I was hanging on pins and needles.

"I wanted to come earlier, you know? But I was still..." he trailed off, trying to find the right word for it as I finished the thought for him.

"Worked up?" I asked, seeing him looking at me in a shifty manner as I nodded my head, "Yeah, the others told me when they saw me earlier."

"Why did you do it?" He asked at a fast rate now, having me go silent as he said that to me with a bit of emotion there in his tone and how his eyes had the emotion too, "Why did you do that back there, almost getting yourself killed."

"Diablo…" I said to him, trying to find my own set of right words.

"No, ain't no excuse for something like that in my opinion. You shouldn't have done that," He said to me in almost a scolding now as I felt myself getting a bit defensive in how he was taking it.

"Done what, trying to protecting you?" I asked him back in almost a bold manner, seeing him shake his head from my explanation.

"I don't need no protection," He argued, his hand making fists in front of him in the cuffs.

"Like hell you don't," I said back to him now, keeping my voice done since I knew the guards were waiting outside in case something was about to go bad.

"What are you talkin' about?" He asked me, looking at me now in confusion instead of anger as I eyed him carefully.

"You all have another chance, to be different people that before when you first came in here. You can have your redemption, and I didn't want you to just throw it away thinking that you didn't." I explained to him boldly, seeing him watch me and not say a word now asI pointed to myself now with the hand that wasn't cuffed to the bed, "I couldn't let you do that when I knew that you were going to be a better person with a better future, that would have killed me from the inside out." I felt like I was almost gushing out my feelings towards the guy before I could think about it. It was true, though, I saw his future looking brighter than the others since he knew how to take care of himself, he knew that he wasn't going to be and forever. Not that the others were terrible, but Diablo was more innocent and kind hearted than he would care to admit.

"You didn't see a future for yourself?" He asked me calmly now as I was watching him look at me I intrigue, to see how he looked more broken from what I told him about myself in in comparison to him. I looked down at my lap there and I shook my head.

"I was fine with dying," I mumbled to him, but mostly to myself now as I was thinking about it. It sounded so depressing, so sad for me to voice it out loud to him, I didn't even say that to the others at all. He was only one that knew how I felt about myself, which was a scary thing to think about and to comprehend.

"Well, I wasn't." I looked up at him in almost a shocking manner as I saw him watching me with his soulful eyes, walking over a bit towards me and I saw the emotion there on his face, "I wasn't okay with you dying back there. You scared me real bad, you know?"

"I know I did," I replied softly, seeing him look down at his now cuffed hands and I could see them trembling a bit now, his hands were shaking.

"She died in my arms," He said almost in a broken manner, having me watch him with the pain in his face that he was trying to cover up, "She was right there in my arms and I couldn't save her….it almost happened to you too."

"But I didn't."

"You could have," Diablo shot back at me like he was trying to shoot me down in shame now as I cocked my head at him.

"Why doesn't it matter anyhow, none of the others would have cared—"

"I do! I care!" He roared at me now, someone from outside burst in thinking that he was about to snap. I saw the guard was about to aim his gun at Diablo now, who stayed so still the whole time as I shook my head at him, silently telling the guard to not do to and leave him. The guard stayed for a solid second or two before he moved back to be outside the room again, having me sigh in relief now as I looked back to Diablo.

"Why….why didn't you tell me?" I asked him in a soft manner, thinking that he just literally told me that he cared me, as more than a friend maybe. That's never happened to me before, someone saying something like that to me. It scared me, but also moved me as well.

"I was scared too," He replied almost sheepishly, shuffling his hands in the handcuffs there, "Didn't think you would look at me that way either."

"Well, you compared to Boomerang or Deadshot for that matter?" I asked almost dryly now, seeing him look up at me carefully now as I shrugged my shoulders at him, "I care about you too. It's why I did what I did,"

He said nothing now as I felt like I should do something that would do that I did care about it, that we were on the mutual ground. I then moved over a bit to give him some room near my bed, motioning to the chair that was next to the ground in the corner.

"Come sit with me," I urged him gently now as he looked at the chair. I kept my smile on him to show that I meant no harm to him. He walked over time, his handcuffs clinking along as he grabbed the chair carefully with the small amount of grab that he had and he pulled it over to sit next to me, looking a bit uncomfortable there as I reached over to grab his hand there and feeling him lace our fingers together without hesitation there. Once our skins touched, he flinched slightly, but he held my hand there and I felt the great sensation of warmth from his skin.

"Waller showed me something earlier today when I woke up," I said to him carefully, seeing him just stare at our joined hands and there was a small sense of peace on his face then, just from holding hands. Such a simple act from one person to another can bring such a huge sensation of peace to any kind of situation. I felt it before when we were in Midway City after he talked me into staying with the group, and now I was returning the favor.

"What'd she give you?" He asked in his usual gruff tone, having me grimace a bit as I was about to show him another small effort in my past. I reached with my spare hand that was still cuffed to the thick envelope that I moved behind my pillow and I placed it there in my lap, seeing his eyes move away from our joined hands and over to the object, a knitted brow on his face.

"What is it?" He asked, looking at me now as I watched him, biting my lip.

"Open it," I said to him clammily, watching him slowly move his spare hand, along with our joined hands, over to the envelope and he released our hands there. I watched him opening it up, the anxiety in me was showing as he pulled out some of the documents there and read through them carefully now.

"He's now in the maximum security prison out in Florida," I explained to him as he was looking through some of the papers there and looking a bit agitated about it, maybe knowing about what I told him back in the bar some time earlier while we were on our mission.

"What'd he do?" Diablo asked, his voice was low now since we were on a subject that he didn't approve of, to begin with.

"Got busted for drugs, and smuggling metahumans around like they were cargo," I muttered to him, seeing my father's prison file there and his mugshot there. It sickened me that she would give me something like this to look at since I was more along the lines of just letting him rot where've he was and be sent to hell.

"Smuggling metahumans?" Diablo asked, not getting the gist of what that meant.

"He would kidnap them and sell them off to…." I trailed off, not wanting to say the rest of what it meant, having them look over a time now as I tried to find another wave of breath to get into my lungs.

"Scientists and Government officials would hire people like him to grab Metahumans off the streets and….turn them in so they could have them before the police could get them," I explained slowly now as he turned another page and read some more, an odd look now as I grabbed the papers from him gently and looked down at time myself, seeing his name over and over and what he as done. All of the mental exam files, the fights he had in the past, all of them were at my fingertips and it felt wrong and sick for me to look at them.

"Here, let me torch them for you," He said, seeing the discomfort on my face now as he was about to light his hand there to finished it off and bring me peace, but I shook my head.

"Not…not yet," I reassured him, seeing him put the fire away as I folded the papers back up and placed them back in the envelope without thinking twice. Once they were all back in the envelope again, I sighed and looked over at him, seeing him reach out and take our hands together then to calm and soothe me.

"So, since I'm not a prisoner here anymore, does this mean I can visit?" I asked him sheepishly, wanting to change the subject as he gave me an odd look.

"Why would you do that?" He questioned, having me give him a raised eyebrow.

"Diablo, I like you and you like me. Let's just start with that and visiting you. Plus I can bring you stuff from the real world," I urged, seeing him slowly smile at me now with a sheepish smile there.

"Just you alone is enough for me, Diamante."


	16. Chapter 16

I walked through the front door of what was going to be my new apartment.

It looked bare, but nothing I couldn't handle really since I left the prison there with my duffle bag in one hand and my other hand on the door handle. I had one kitchen, one living room that was connected to it, two bedrooms and one bathroom.

It was all mine.

Since I was released from the medical room, Waller already had a place set up for me near the prison in case she needed to get a hold of me for upcoming missions. I was reminded of my rules" as long as I stay out of trouble with the police, then I won't be sent back to prison. I agreed to that since the last thing that I would want to do is go back. But I did ask her if I could visit the others from time to time, to which she agreed.

I said goodbye to the group, each of them giving me a hug in their own special ways. Boomerang lifted me up from the ground, Croc gave me a gentle one-sided hug, Deadshot's hug was more fatherly, and Harley's was more in a squeal as she gave me from nice advice.

"Get yourself a nice drink, maybe another tattoo if ya don't want me to do it."

Diablo was the last one to hug me, wrapping both arms around me and keeping me close enough for me to just breathe him in. We were just getting things to work between the both of us since we talked about it while I was in the medical wing. I felt like we were going to take it as slow as we could, and the way I was feeling him hold me close, he was thinking that same way too.

"I'll be seeing you soon, Diamante."

I walked around the area of the room, seeing that it was brand new and nothing really tainted it in the past. It must have been some kind of perk from Waller, who was hiring me on as one of her Squad members, semi-permanently. I had a salary, which I didn't want to know where the money was coming from, and I was going to start fresh.

A new start for a new life.

"Waller will contact you if she needs you for a new mission," I looked behind me, seeing none other thanFlagg right behind me, standing at the doorway with another one of his soldiers to escort me to my new home. I smiled and nodded at him. He still had some of the beatings from the battle there on his face, and he looked beyond worn out from what happened to him and his girlfriend, who survived the whole incident since the witch left her body.

"Thanks, Flag," I said to him, seeing him give me short smile as he walked in a bit to look around the place too with a small smirk there on his face.

"Nice digs here for you, huh Talbert?" He asked me in amusement as I chuckled.

"Yeah, Waller knows how to take care of people she needs," I agreed with him, looking back at him and grinning at him. It felt nice being back in a similar place with him, not long have some kind of feeling hostility or hatred. He cared about me like he did about the others, whether he wanted to admit it or not. I knew he did.

"Thanks, Flag…you know…for helping me out with all of this," I said to him, motioning to the apartment with my finger in a rotating manner. He nodded his head.

"You're welcome," He replied, "Least I could do with what you did back there at the subway…."

"Was that a thank you from you?" I asked in a teasing manner, seeing him roll his eyes, "Wow. What a shocker."

"Shut up."

* * *

Civilian life was harder than I thought.

For one I was jumpy, about everything and anything that was going on around me. The prison was so quiet, only a few sounds here and there that I was used to, but the city streets and the sounds of music coming through from the bars were enough to almost send me out of my own sanity. I had to get used it, and it took awhile for me to do that now.

All of the noises were new to me.

Not to mention the people,who fast paced they were going from place to place. I would watch out every once in awhile to not get hit by a car or be shoved by another person. It was odd, being outside of my element again since its' been 5 years since I was out in the real world. But this was good for me, to be able to do the things that I wanted to do, but what was I going to do anyhow? I didn't know what I liked and if I still liked it.

I started simple: flowers.

There was a florist shop down the street from my apartment, so I would get plenty of flower in vases to fill up my apartment. Sunflowers in the living room, Daffodils on the kitchen table, lavender in my bedroom new bedside nightstand, and roses, always roses when I could get my hands on them. They were my favorite, and they reminded me of my mother and how the smell was like her hair in the wintertime.

I went to thrift stores for furniture, got a raggedy turntable and my hands on some records to play at night while I would teach myself how to cook. It was a content solo life that I would live, though it made me miss the prison life for time to time.

Such an odd thing to miss.

Waller had plenty of things for me to do when it came to missions: going in and fighting off another kind of being that was around other cities and towns. So it was nice, not being bored on a Friday night home they were flying me out with some of SEAL's men to take care of something small that didn't require the whole squad. That would be rare if it was life or death and they needed the "fire" power.

But I would visit, for Diablo's sake.

Sure, I would say hi to the others and hope things are well for them back in their regular cells and pinned off areas, but Diablo was the one that I was with the most. At first, he was mostly in his tank, and according to his guard, he would never come up to the small circle window there for visitors. I was the only time he ever did that. I didn't know if that was supposed to make me feel better, but it was nice to see him and to see him smile when I showed my face in the porthole of a window.

"It feels odd," I explained to him as I sat against the large door that was separating us, he was sitting on the other side and facing me as I went on to tell him how it was to be out in the real world, "It's almost like I'm walking through some kind of dream, out there on the streets. I'm trying to get more things to look normal around my place, lots, and lots of flowers. But like I said, everything's loud, loud and chaotic. In here it's quiet."

"You don't like it out there?" He asked me through the thick glass that was there in the window, though I shook my head.

"No I do…it's just going to take some getting used to," I said, then moving my head to look at him through the window to see this face, "How are you in here?"

"It's quiet, keeping me just with my thoughts, like always," He admitted.

"Don't you want to be out in a bigger…tank?" I asked in a suggestion, seeing him grin at me from the awkward way I asked that.

"I could if I wanted to, but I kind of like it this way. It's nice, small and calm," He admitted, looking at his walls now as I did the same.

"A bit quaint too if you think about it," I agreed, seeing him nod his head.

"If I had too much space, I wouldn't like it." He explained, "Sometimes I hate it, not being able to move around a whole lot. Plus, I don't get a lot of people visiting me….just you."

I felt a small hint of blush there on my cheeks now as he said that to me, seen him lean forward and press his head over to where the glass was, almost like he looked defeated about something in his head. I watched him as he sighed heavily.

"I miss you, Rose," He said to me in a confession,"It hasn't been the same around here without you here at the prison."

"I know, I miss you too," I replied back to him as I pressed my fingertips there along the glass in hopes that he would feel that through the glass and onto his skin. It made me feel sad that he was here within this tank, alone with his own thoughts that could be good and or bad, "I wish I could be in there with you."

"You don't want that," He countered with me.

"You're something familiar, Diablo," I explained to him, seeing him finally look up at me now as I told him this, "Nothing feels the same out there, only in here it feels….normal."

"You were in here for far too long, I think," He replied to me, "That happens to people locked up for too long. That happened to my Uncle once, he hated being out of prison since it's all he knew."

"You think that's happening to me?" I asked him in a low tone, looking over at the guards that were standing guard now a bit away from me and not hearing our conversation.

"Naw," Diablo replied quickly, having me look at him now, "My Uncle was locked up for twenty years. You were only in here for five years, that's not the same. You're strong enough to make it out there."

"You're far too kind for someone like me," I admitted to him, seeing him shake his head on the other side of the window.

"I think you're far too kind to be with someone like me, Rose," he said back to me now as we were watching each other, having me feel terrible that there was a huge barrier between the both of us. I only hoped that it would be better for the both of us in the future, that we would be able to at least hug each other from time to time, and it made me realize that I hoped that I wasn't going to be the type of girlfriend that was going to be clingy with him. I had to remember that this was slow, slow and real for the both of us.

"You said you like flowers?" He asked me, almost seeing that I was lost in thought, looking over at him and seeing that he cocked his head to the side now. I smiled and nodded my head.

"I love flowers, they remind me of my mom," I explained

"Which ones are your favorites?" He asked me in curiosity.

"Sunflowers and roses, obviously," I replied in a chuckled, seeing him smile at me and I saw the war smile there on his face that I have missed since I was free from the prison.

The next morning, 3 dozen Roses were sent straight to my apartment, with a blank note that had a simple picture of a lit match.

He's such a romantic.

* * *

"We have reason to believe that this German Scientist is taking Metahumans and using them in experiments. Rumors are that he was trying to extract their abilities using his own ways." I was in a meeting room with Waller, Flag, and other officers as I was being brief on a new mission that we were going to go on. I was back in my combat uniform that they gave me, and before we would go they were going to tell the rest of the Squad so they would be briefed.

"He was banned from being a doctor because of the hundreds of patients that were dying under the knife, his knife really. Since his lost his license, he went underground and used his wealth to have an underground practice for plastic surgery and other surgeries, mostly illegal." Waller explained as I looked at the picture of the suspect that they were going to grab over in Germany that night, feeling a small twinge of fear there from that face. He looked sinister as if he was happy with what he was doing. Both professional looking and almost fearful.

"Our mission is to go into his facility and to rescue the Metahumans that he is holding hostage. He is already our radar to be arrested by some of our top military personnel, so your job is to focus on his victims that he was holding hostage and getting them back over here, understand?" I looked from her back tot he screen,thinking once again of my father and how he did the same, including with me. But this time, it was different, way too different now since my father wanted some profit.

This guy wanted to play God.


	17. Chapter 17

"No way, that's true."

"I swear to you it is."

"You did not survive and hit and run."

"I promise you I did. No one ever believes me when I tell them that story,"

I was having another visiting session with Diablo, but this time, he was out of his tank and in a visiting cell block, the two of us were the only ones there since the others were either too busy or not wanting to invade our space. Either way, it was nice, since it's been two weeks since I was released and I was having a regular routine to visits at least 3 times a week and help out with Waller whenever I could. It was still a good gig in my opinion: the more I worked for the woman, the more time I got with Diablo.

We were sitting across from each other, small smirked on our faces as we were eating the food that I made for the both of us, with the approval of Waller of course. I had pasta with garlic bread and salad, in which I was going to have him be my guinea pig to see if I was a good enough cook. Waller said it was fine, as long as it was not a regular routine since he was still considered a villain, and I was now a free person.

It was a reminder: mind my boundaries.

"This isn't half bad," He said to me as he took another bite, having me watch him carefully now as he was chewing it down.

"You don't have to lie to me, you know," I advised him, seeing him eye me then too as I waited for his actual reaction.

"I'm telling you, it ain't bad," He reassured me as he ate some more to show me, "See, I ain't dead."

"Shut up," I joked, sharing him chuckled as he leaned back in his chair.

"I need to teach ya how to have Mexican food, real Mexcian food. None of that fake Taco Bell shit that they try to convince you it's authentic," He explained as I took a bite of my own food there, "I'm an okay cook myself."

"Never would have guessed," I teased.

"Be nice. Anyway, my old lady used to cook for me a whole lot, but she taught me a few things here and there," He passed, thinking about her as I watched him carefully, seeing him retreat to himself within his own mind and I wondered what was going on in his face. Sadness? Regret?

"You okay?" I asked him quietly, seeing him think to himself for another moment or two, having me know who he was thinking about, "You miss her, don't you?"

"More than I thought I would," He admitted.

"There's nothing wrong with missing someone who's gone," I reminded him, seeing him slowly look up at me, "You miss your whole family."

"I can't change what I did," He said to me softly, then taking in a deep breath and motioning to the food there in front of him, "But this is a good start, to moving on with my life."

"That it is," I said to him, hesitating there in front of him and having him look at me in concern now since it felt like I was now the one in deep thought.

"Rose?" He asked me, making my tongue feel thick now as I wanted to tell him the one thing that I was beyond concerned about when we were going to go through with this together.

"I don't want to….I don't want to replace her."

It sounded terrible maybe, almost like I was walking to my deathbed saying that to him since she was his wife and his first for everything. The one light in his life was gone and he was trying again to find it somewhere else, but with me? I felt like I was going to be replacing her, and if I knew one thing about people being replaced, it was not going to be the same result. I didn't want that for us, for me to try and fill some kind of hole that he had from his past that made him who he was.

He reached over to lace our fingers together on the table, having me look down at the contrast in our skin tone. Tan and Pale, tattooed and freckled, hot and cold. Such opposites there, yet they were fitting perfectly now as I felt him squeeze our hands together.

"You're not replacing her," he said to me calmly, having me look over at him now to see those chocolate brown eyes, "No one can ever replace her, I learned that. But I am wanting to move on, with you." I smiled slowly at him, seeing him still hold our hands together as he eyed me then, leaning back a bit like we just had another conversation, all water under the bridge.

"So, what's the stupidest thing you've done?" He asked me curiosity as he took his spare hand and scooped some more pasta in his mouth as I thought to myself.

"Got myself in a bar fight," I replied, seeing his eyes go big in shock.

"No shit, for real?"

"I was 21 and the guy was a real jackass. Trust me, he asked for it."

* * *

Fraunhofer Society Research Headquarters.

Munich, Germany

I stepped out of the plane, the rest of the Squad behind me as we were following Flag and some of his men out not the open area that was behind the large research center. It was the wee hours of the morning, the sleepiness of the night was rubbing off of me as the cold was surrounding us, having me miss being at home where it was warm. This place though it looked modern and chic compared with the rest of the world, had enough secrets behind it that would make the world itself raise an eyebrow,

That is why we're there.

"Nice digs!" Boomerang said in a gleeful manner as we walked over to the front together.

"We are going in to find information on the scientist and his location, nothing else. We don't break anything, loose anything….or steal anything." Flag advised us.

"Awww come on, dad!" Harley teased him as we were walking over to the double front doors that were made of glass. I eyed her lightly as we approached the doors and Flag took out a device from his pocket there,e a small one that was the size of my hand and he placed it on the wall, pressing a few buttons here and there before we heard a click and the front doors moved open without a flinch to them. Deadshot whistle.

"Nice tech there, Flag," Deadshot praised, almost like he was Swooning from what he saw.

"Give it a rest, Deadshot," Flag advised as we walked into the lobby, weapons out and ready. I got my hands in my diamond form, in case something else were to pop up. Diablo did the same, his hands were making small enough flames to not give himself away now as we approached the front desk and one of the soldiers started tapping away, bringing up the security cameras and monitors.

"We need to hack in and make sure that we are the only ones that get to see this feed, along with making sure that no one else will get ot us," Flag explained.

"I'm on it sir," the soldier replied as he got the camera work, the rest of us were all looking at the monitors now as Flag was pointing to them.

"We split up, two of ya'll with one soldier and you spread out to find any information we can get on the guy. According to the staff listings within the past 5 years, his old office is on the top floor: Room 3113. We need to find any dirt on the guy that we can work with, and you all will be our muscle in case things do go south. Once we hack into the system for his information, the security teams for this place will start running, and you'll take care of them…nicely." Flag explained as he looked at each of us now and tapped his phone there against his pocket, "You know the drill, I don't wanna repeat it."

"Yes, dad," Harley replied with a roll of her eyes, "We try to escape or vex you or you piss you off…we die."

"Thank goodness you learned," Flag said to her in a sarcastic manner as she rolled her eyes at him, "Now, I want Harley and Diablo, Croc and Talbert, Boomerang and Deadshot," I looked over at Croc, seeing him move his hoodie out of the way to see me and he growled in agreement. But Diablo looked over at me in concern as Harley walked over to him with her bat in her hand and pistol on his own holster.

"Great," Deadshot muttered as Boomerang grinned at him.

"Oi, don't be all sappy about it," he replied to him as Diablo walked over to me and I gave him a reassuring look. If there was another trait that I knew Diablo had with me compared to the others in the group: He was protective. Very much so since he almost lost me back at the subway. He was not wanting to have that again with me.

"Hey," I reassured him since I saw that he was about to argue with me not being near him, reaching down and pressing our palms together there to have him feel my skin against his own, "I'm going to be okay." He stayed there, watching me and then looking over to where the others were, noticing that most of them were not looking at the both of us. He then pressed into me slightly, a close enough hug without actually hugging me since we both decided to keep what we were building up together under wraps from the others. But who knew how long that was going to last.

Our heads touched, almost a silent way to telling each other to be safe and not do anything stupid. His other hand touched my jawline there, almost pressing it in like a seal for me to know that he was there. This was a new side of Diablo that I have never seen, a calmer and cooler side that was nothing to how he spoke of himself in the past: being a hard monster. Not with me, he was calm and gentle and reassuring. This was as close to intimacy that we were going to get, and we were still going real slow with the kind of boundaries that we wanted with one another. It was fine bye= me, slow and steady.

I moved away from him now and over to Croc, who was waiting for me over near the camera feed as Flag was pointing to the floors.

"You and Croc get to the top floor to his main office and over the soldier who'll upload his information, see if you can find anything." He explained to me, having me nod at him before I looked over at Croc.

"You ready?"

"You got it, shorty."

* * *

The both of us, along with our soldier chaperone, walking along the corridor there in the research building of the top floor. It was weary and quiet, the place was spotless and clean with nothing out of place or out of the ordinary. Even the carpeting was spotless as we walked along and I looked at each of the rooms to see if we were going to find the right one.

"Here, in here," I said to the soldier as I saw the room with the number 3113, seeing the soldier go over to open the door and the three of us stepped inside. There were two plush chairs in front of a desk, a high-tech computer there and some knick knacks around the room as the soldier made his way over to the computer. It felt Croc and I walking around the room and looking at all the ratings this current scientist had for us to examine and to judge upon. Plenty of pictures of a family, typical WASP status for sure with some pictures from what looked like to be a beach near Tahiti. of course he would go on vacation.

"Past five years on this computer, and now we have him here," The soldier said after a few minutes of us standing there in silence and we both walked over to the screen to see what we were seeing.

"He went by the name of Hans Streicher," The soldier explained, having me see the face there and it matched the same face that we saw in the briefing of this mission some hours before, but this time it was his work picture that he would use in this workplace, "Clean record on here with browsing history…..upper-class family."

"Sounds fishy," Croc said under his breath, the soldier looking at him.

"Yeah he's right: This guy's hiding something that we're not seeing," I added to the agreement with Croc, the soldier nodding his head slowly now as he looked back at the computer.

"If I hack into this, we could open up a can of worms with security and whatever kind of security measure they do have will come running. If they do, make sure I'm not disturbed in the next few minutes," He explained to both Croc and me.

"Our pleasure," Croc answered, the soldier grabbing his radio to Flag.

"I got into his computer and I'm about to download. Should take about 5 minutes," He explained, taking out a USB link and injecting it into the computer. I could hear a few taps as he was typing to get over the elementary security walls and I looked over at him, seeing eye me.

"Security's coming." He reminded me, having me then nod and get my diamond form at least up to my upper arms now as I was waiting there for the first one to come running, hoping that the others knew what was about to happen as well.

"Bring them on."


	18. Chapter 18

"We have a problem," As soon as we were back at the prison and the rest of the group were back in their cells, I was about to leave to head over to get my things and go back to my apartment when I was stopped by Waller, Flag too looked at her in confusion as she approached me in a brisk manner. I knew something was up, and I was thinking that it had something to do with me.

"We had another breakout, here in Louisiana." She said to me, having me a shift a bit in uncertainty now as Flag spoke up.

"What does that mean, ma'am?" he asked her.

"It means that Rose is not safe at her apartment, at least for the night until we can get an actual word in from the police," I looked at her in shock.

"Why? What happened?" I asked now, finding my voice in the whole here. She took out her iPad from her briefcase that she was holding, tapping a few things and then handing me the video that was on the screen for me to see. I watched carefully, seeing it was a news feed.

"There has been another set of disappearances within the New Orleans city itself, most of which are all over the districts with no real direct place of origin. We have reason to believe that this was the work os some vigilantes that are after Metahumans here in town and none of which were arrested yet and were not caught by police. Police have been advised and are doubling her efforts on patrols and house searches in case of more disappearances come into effect,"

I looked up at her, seeing her watch me now as the clip ended and she took the iPad from me.

"Is it linked the German scientist?" I asked her now as we both started walking over to her office that was over near the far end of the prison.

"We're looking into it. Mostly likely, whoever is behind all of us is going after the metahumans that are higher in ranks of danger and abilities, you being one of them," She explained as we turned the corner and found her door at the end of the hallway. One of the soldiers that were outside , standing guard, opened the door for the three of us as we walked in and she threw her briefcase on her desk.

"So where does that leave me?" I asked her as she sat down in her chair and rubbed her temple.

"Your safety is the top priority since you work for me. I want you to stay the night here, at least until tomorrow when I get word that this whole situation is handled properly. I can't afford to lose you and have the others at the Pentagon breathe down my neck for losing one of my own. We want to get some kind of idea as to who is behind this and if we can handle it quietly, or with some noise." She explained as I nodded my head, thinking that it would be best for me not to argue with my boss on this one.

"I'll get her set up in one of the guard's quarters," Flag said to Waller now as I was about to leave wit him when Waller spoke up one more time.

"I would advise you not getting too close to them, Talbert."

It was like she was about to pull the grenade wit her finger on the pull pin, waiting for me to react so she can blow me up. I turned around to look at her, not getting at what she was saying at first since she made it more like a threat, but trying to be casual at the same time. She stared right at me, not saying a word as she folded her hands there on her desk, something underneath her folded hands there like, another tablet with some pictures on there. For a split second I couldn't see what it was, but then I knew since I saw the pictures and I knew who it was.

The Squad themselves.

"You know what will happen to them if they do fail," She reminded me calmly now as I felt a bit defensive there as she was saying it like I was about to have some kind of death wish with her, "Why should you waste your time with them if you know their own fate."

"I guess I'm optimistic," I replied calmly now as I walked away from her and out of the office. It made me wonder what was really going on in her head if she was truly someone that I could trust or someone I had to always stay away at a certain length. it felt like the latter attic this talk that we were having, and it made me worry about what I was doing there with her, working for her.

"Come on," Flag said to me as we both walked away from the office, down the hallway and out of her element of brooding and fierceness. It had me fuming a bit now when she told me to back away from them, almost like she was slapping me on the hand.

"If it helps, I don't get it either," I looked over at Flag now as he was walking too, his eyes dead ahead and something in the back of his mouth ticking, as if he was pissed off too, "I know you're not the kind to fall easily into traps."

"How do you know?" I asked him back in a challenging manner.

"You could have died sometime long ago back when we were battling the witch. No one with no spine could have done that and lived to see the day," He explained, having me feel a twinge of appreciation towards him now as he said that about me, of all people. There was much more to this whole new life that I had to get used to and wrap my own head around. Who could I trust, and who do I need to stay away from.

It was up for me to decide.

* * *

That night was quiet, quiet and uneasy for me to sleep since I was thinking about the metahumans and what were happening to them. I knew that it could be me one of these days, going out there and not looking twice before I would be taken away without a second thought. Why were they being taken? There had to be some kind of real reason behind it, not just that people were afraid of them. I wanted to know more now, the unraveling of the knit sweater just started and it had all to do with Waller. Once again, I felt like she was hiding something, another thing that she would do when something was so close as to coming out into the open.

What was it this time?

I turned over in my bed, my diamond formed hand was crystalizing there in the darkness and the moonlight coming through one of the windows there in my bedroom. They were worried about something so simple, or something so dangerous. Where was I on that scale? Was I simple, or was I dangerous?

Did Waller know?

* * *

This went on for some time, some days it was safe, and other days it wasn't.

Of course, my own apartment would be in the heat of it, so I had to be worried about someone coming around the corner to throw me into a car somewhere. But I was still careful enough, making the great choice of not making too many friends around my apartment. Sure it was making me more antisocial, but then again I would rather be antisocial than popular and have people think about me all the time.

But that too was a challenge, but the florist caught wind that I lived nearby and she asked for my name. Of course, I didn't want to be rude, so I told her my first name.

Mary. My mother's name.

"I'm Janice," She said to me, her elderly yet slimming figure made me think that she sued to be part of the hippie era. She had large hoop earrings, her long gray hair was in a thick braid down her back and she had on flow clothing underneath her maroon apron and some of the smell of dirt there under her fingertips. She was far too kind for me to be rude, not to mention someone who seems more on the side of the metahumans than against them, at least that's what I got from talking to her from time to time.

"Those poor souls. It's like the 60's all over again, but this time, they're superstitious about the whole thing," Janice was saying to another customer as I walked in late one night and another one of her employees was getting a bouquet ready for me since I ordered it earlier.

"What did you think was going to happen? People are scared, we don't know what kind of things they can do," The customer said to her to try and reason with her, but Janice shook her head.

"But they are still people, and they still deserve better things than that," Janice replied to her now as I handed the money, hearing the small TV going on again with another clip of disappearances happening from the night before.

"You think it'll die out soon, though, this whole thing about metahumans?" The customers asked as I was taking the bouquet from the worked there and Janice finally looked at me, her smile showed that she snapped out of the thought of the news and was focusing on me.

"Make sure you clip the ends like I showed you before, okay?" She asked me, and I nodded quietly now.

"Thanks, Janice. These look great," I said to her in a sweet manner, her smile at me reminded me of the sun: bright and cheerful.

"I'll get a new shipment in of baby lavenders for you since you asked, they'll be the last one since their season is coming to an end this year," She reminded me, having me nod as I grabbed my flowers and about to head out the door as I heard Janice turning off the TV now in a huff.

"We don't need any more of this hatred in the world."

I wish I could second her on that one.

I got to my apartment complex, which was on the ground floor of the complex there along the suburban areas of New Orleans, fishing out my keys as I was walking along. Once I got my keys out, I felt like someone placed their hands on my arms and shoved me against the wall there in the late humid night. I was shoved hard, losing my keys and the flowers there as they fell to the floor with my purse, hitting my head against the wooden wall and someone grabbed my throat to hold me there as I could see the shadow of who it was.

"Hold still, bitch."

I rammed my elbow there against his face, seeing him lean back slightly as I was trying to find my footing when he punched me hard there against my eye, almost having me yell out in pain now as he was pulling something out of his pant, small and what looked like a needle.

Oh shit, it was happening all over again.

I felt my head booming a diamond there as soon as he was about to pull back to strike me against my arm, rearing my head and back slamming him hard in the head. It was hard, almost like skull hitting concrete as he then collapsed to the floor, out cold and not moving. I gasped for air now as I was looking at him on the ground, not knowing who he was and why he had a needle in his hand. He was crushing the Roses underneath his body.

This was getting harder than I imagined.

* * *

The next day, I walked right up to Waller now as she was talking to the Squad there in one of the meeting room. They were all there but Diablo, which was a good thing since I knew he was about to have a freak out episode. I was walking straight to her and not seeing the others looks at me and how they were shocked at what they were seeing on my face. Namely, the black eye that I had.

Amanda looked a bit shocked to see me being so bold at her now as I stood there at fists at my side, my nostrils were fairing slightly now as I eyed her carefully.

"Crickey, Shelia," Boomerang said under her breath.

"Nice shiner, dollface. Did you get freaky last night or-" Harley started, but I eyed her and she instantly went quiet and looked shocked at the look I was giving her, looking down then as I went back to look at Amanda.

"I was almost taken last night," I explained to her carefully with my hands at my sides and my anger was still simmering at a boil, "They were about to drug me and take me."

"Are you sure?" Waller asked me, having me reach into my pocket and take out the needle that I stowed away in a Ziploc bag and I threw it onto the table there in the middle.

"I'm not gonna lie about that coming right at me," I explained to her now, pointing to the needle now with a deadly finger.

"Shit," Deadshot muttered as the doors behind us opened, all of us looking now as I saw it was, in fact, Diablo coming in with his handler. Diablo saw me instantly as his handle took off the cuffs and moved away from in, in which he walked over to me at a fast pace now and instantly looked at my black eye. I saw the fear in his eyes as he was closed enough to cradle my face in his hands and he examined my injury with anger there, it was buried there, but I still saw it.

"What happened?" He asked, looking at it from different angles, "Who did that to you?"

"I was jumped last night," I explained to him as he looked at me in worry now from hearing the news. I hated doing that to him, it was killing me, "He...tried to take me."

"Take you? Where?" He asked me urgently as Amanda then spoke up finally.

"To where all the other Metahumans went to," She replied, all of us were looking at her now to hear where she would tell me. I was wanting to know too since it would be one piece closer to ending this whole thing once and for all.

"We're going to find it."


	19. Chapter 19

Since my mugging, Waller has been trying to find the kind of patterns that were happening with the lootings and violence around the country, since they were sprouting and in the most random places. People turning on each other, others being sent away with no explanation, she saw something out of place with it and she wanted to fix it once and for all. It left more time for me to try and go back to the apartment without being afraid of what could be there. The others were spending more time in the prison, in which I would visit them with or without Amanda's wishes. Her warning was still in the back of my head: steer clear from being close.

I knew what I was doing.

One of the other times that I was with Diablo, he told me his first name which was rare sine he never told the others about it. We were talking at one time, sitting side by side there at the visitor's room and he brought it up out of nowhere with me after I said some kind of joke to him, looking over at me with his gorgeous eyes.

"You know, my real name's not Diablo," He said to me softly, having me look at him playfully in shock.

"What?! Since when?" I asked, the both of us smiling at each other as he shook his head,

"Eh, I don't like using my real name," He explained, "At least, I don't share it with a whole lot of people."

"So I'm an exception to that rule then?" I asked in a coy manner, seeing him shove me playfully with his shoulder against my own and I grinned at him. He thought to himself for a moment before he said his name to me, clear a day.

"It's Chato," I grinned when he told me since it felt like it suited him and what he was like, "It's not a great name—"

"I think it is," I said simply, lacing our fingers together and I felt him lean into me a bit.

I leaned my head on his shoulder, the warmth was there now as he didn't move but stayed there holding my hand and humming a bit in content as I spoke up to him, "You know, those red roses you sent to my apartment are very nice."

"I didn't know what color you would like," Chato reasoned with me as I looked up at him and him down at me, "Harley told me red was popular. What, you don't like red?"

"I do," I reasoned with him, "Yellow if my favorite, though. Yellow and peach."

"Yellow and peach…." He trailed off, thinking to himself as I playfully shoved him.

"Don't even think about it," I warned with a smile, "Don't spend your money on me."

"Why?" He asked with a shrug of his shoulders, "I want to."

It was simple to the both of us, not needing big words or long talks with one another, we were fine with each other's company and drinking in the calm waves that the other would bring. it made me happy that I would find something like this with someone like him, who felt like my opposite on many things. Wel felt like opposites, but it was working well for us.

* * *

"Dodge them!"

We were in another mission that has thrown us in another town that overrun by beings from that were made from somewhere else. But this group was taking over San Francisco, a whole litter of them taking over the whole area and wrecking havoc. We got the call right after I was almost mugged and drugged, and that part was still a mystery, who was the one that tried to take me, and who sent him.

Somebody had to have sent him.

Right now I was occupied to dodging more assaults from these beings that looked like they were drugged up to the brink of being mindless zombies. They looked more humans than the beings that we saw over in Midway City, but they were acting like those beings: mindless and without any remorse. It made me wonder who did this to them, why they would do that, and if there were some kind of motive.

Waller threw us into the hard of the town, most of the things were near the wharf and pear with the crisp wind coming in and the sea salt air was hitting my face hard

I punched out another one of those beings, seeing it fall to the floor now as another one tried to jump on my back and having me roll to the floor in a heap. I struggled against him, getting him up from my back since it was a bit light now and ramming him against a brick wall and hearing him groan out as he fell to the floor unconscious. I got up, seeing the others there fighting off those things and I could see that this was some kind of easy fight. Why was it too easy?

"Are these things bloody human?" Boomerang said in a fugue as he slammed to of them together and I grabbed another one from hitting me hard with its hands.

"I think they are," I replied back to him as Harley swung at one with a bat.

"They're are human, none of them are squishing like those buggies," She said in her huff as she swung at another one.

"Why do they look like that?" Chato asked he was taking out another set of those things who were trying to jump them.

"Let me ask 'em," Harley said with a snort as she pulled out her pistol and shot at three of them before putting her pistol down and the last of them were doing down for the count, "I didn't get an answer."

"Wait a minute," I said to them as we were standing there, already down with the battle there and we were good with the battle. I crouched down at the body there in front of me, the same body that I knocked down from seconds ago. I tilted the head to the side, seeing something there along the edge of its skin and I grabbed the phone there in my back pocket to turn it on.

"Taking a picture of it, love? I didn't think you had that kind of kink in you." Boomerang voiced to me as I aimed my picture there along the neck and took the picture itself.

"You would like that about me, jackass," I muttered to him as I stood back up again and I looked at the picture there on y camera, seeing something there that seemed off. There was some kind of mark there along the skin, in which the mark made the skin rise almost like a brand. It was a brand that I didn't know, almost ancient looking and a smaller mark there. There was some kind of sign of injection there, I could see the puncture wound and how it almost looked infected.

"Look at this," I said to Deadshot as I walked over to him and showed him the picture, seeing him my phone and look at it closely as the others were walking over too to see what was going on, "That's a puncture wound of a needle."

"It sure is," Deadshot said as Harley took the phone without any warning to look at the mark there in the picture, tilting it from side to side now as she thought to herself casually.

"Looks like someone got shot up with drugs," She playfully informed us as we all looked at her, seeing if she was making a joke of it or actually telling the truth. She caught the awkwardness and playfully giggled, "Seriously, though, that's a hypodermic needle injection there."

"Somebody drugged them?" Chato asked her now in confusion, all of us looking at the rest of the bodies as if it was clicking together, having me take the phone from her hands now.

"Check their necks."

We all looked at the necks of those on the ground, seeing where the neck wound would be and I hear Deadshot calling Flag over now as he was talking to Waller on the phone about our wrap up there in the town. He walked Flag over to me as I was checked another neck, seeing that it was the same wound that I saw in the first one. There was some kind of link with them, all of them had this and it looked unhealthily and almost like a struggle with this injection in them.

"Show him," Deadshot explained to me as I walked over to Flag, tossing him the phone and watched him looking at the picture, something off was on his face about it.

"They are one at of their necks. Someone did this to them," I explained to him, seeing him look up and look at all of the bodies. There was foul play here, I could feel it now since it was like before in Midway City: theses were actual people before this all happened. They had real lives, they were robbed of that and taken for something else that turned them into this. Something odd, grotesque and wrong.

Who would do that to someone, to a group of them?

* * *

"So, I guess you're heading back to your place over in New Orleans then?" Chao asked me as we got off the plane and over to the front of the prisoner where they were going to be cuffed once again and escorted back to their cells. I nodded my head, shoving my hands in my pockets then.

"Yeah, I'm cooking and staying in for the night, like I usually do," I replied, seeing him give me a longing look as I raised an eyebrow at him, "Why you wanna know?"

"Umm…" he said in uncertainly, trying to avoid my gaze now like I caught him in some kind of trap. I stopped him from walking, keeping my hand there on his arm.

"What is it, Chato?" I asked him now, seeing him shrug his own shoulders all sheepishly.

"I asked Waller, very nicely mind you, if I could come over and visit for a few hours at your place, you know? I've been good here and she's not breathing down my neck…..bitch," He muttered the last word under his breath but I smacked him.

"Be nice," I warned him.

"But she said yes, I can come visit." He said to me, a huge smile on my face from hearing that from him. It was a big deal, in my opinion, another warning bell was faintly going off from Amanda Waller herself, her infamous wanting for me not to get close. It was one of those tight ropes situations that I knew I would have to talk in order I knew that I was going to be okay. This was one of those moments, but seeing Chato's grin on his face was enough for me.

* * *

"Move it over here, along the side there so it won't burn in the middle," I watched him as he was trying to make the food there between us, looking like he was in deep conversation as we were in my apartment the next night, the window open for the light air to come in and the int music of my record player coming into the room now as I could see him trying not to mess it up there for the both of us.

"Good, it looks good," I encouraged, having me see him look over at me. He was wearing one of his baggy pants, a white shirt and his sneakers there as I was wearing a rolled up flannel shirt, a black shirt underneath, and my own sneakers.

"No need to say that to make me feel better," He muttered to him, having me shake my head.

"Oh come on, Chato. You're not half bad with cooking," I said to him now as I pointed back to the pan, "We're almost done with it. Come on, moving it around a bit more to get it nice and brown," It was like be was an obedient student there, listening to my every word and getting it just right where he wanted it to be. He grinned as he did it, like a child getting the right thing on the test.

"Chef Chato is in the room," I praised him as I got the pan from him and move the food onto the two plates there.

"I didn't even burn down the stove, that's a first," he voiced to me.

"You had control and you were patient. Cooking takes just that," I explained as I looked over at him from the pan, "My mom taught me that. She was a pretty good cook." I was about to say something else about my mother when he leaned over to me, so close to me that it made me stop since he planted his lips on me.

Chato kissed me.

It felt like fire touched my lips, not the hot uncontrolled fire that would take out a whole city it could and if it tried. This one was soft, warm against my lips and almost leaving a tingling sensation. I lost my breath when we connected, my mind going blank and my heart beating so fast that I could hear it in my ears how fast it was going. For something so simple and what felt like a delegate thing, it was turning everything inside of me all around in different places. I had to close my eyes then, since there was nothing else I could do but kiss him back very softly and carefully, feeling the weight of his own lips against my own. It felt like a million fires were going off all over my body, over and over again like some kind of firework show. All from him, all from one kiss.

I felt him move, getting one hand on my neck there and having me feeling the warmth of his fingertips and his other hand close to my waist, but not placing them there yet and keeping his hand there on the kitchen counter. I could feel my hands moving without me thinking about it, they were moving over to where his shirt was and I slowly placed my fingers there, in case it would be too much. It almost felt like I was breathing in the fire hat he had within himself and was giving it to me.

Such a gift.

He pulled away from me, mere inches as he was watching my every move in case he did something wrong or was overstepping. I saw it there in his face and how he was giving me enough space to run, but stay close enough in case I wanted to stay. Was he nervous from what we did? Did he regret it? I waited for him to say something, but maybe he was doing the same thing too.

"Did you just kiss me?" I asked him quietly since I couldn't hear anything else in the room but the heavy breathing of the two of us. He gulped, sensing that this as a bad idea.

"Yeah I did," He replied carefully, his voice was soothing and low, almost husky.

"Why?" I asked suddenly.

"Because I wanted to, for awhile actually," He explained in a stammer since he felt like this was about to go down the wrong path that he wanted, "I don't know for how long, it's been a few weeks here and there and I didn't think you would like me like that, but you look so pretty tonight and I felt like it was a now or never thing—"

I kissed him this time, just to shut him up.

It was just as gentler than before, but with a small amount of heat behind it as he responded within a second after I kissed him, moving back into my space and keeping his hand on my neck there for good measure. It felt right kissing him, more than right. It was almost like I was drugged by him and it was consuming me all over from my head to my toes.

I reached over with my own spare hand that was not occupied with his shirt there amongst my fingers, grabbing his hand that was on the counter and placing it against my hip there, to at least show that it was okay to hold me there. Within a second of having his hand on my hip, I felt him wrap his arm around me and pull me flush against him as he gave me another kiss, a little more tender and real this time since he was testing the waters. It made me clutch his shirt there in front of me like he was a lifeline for me to feel.

He was the one the pulled away, still looking down at me as I was getting my breath again. He sounded like he was trying to breathe too from our recent kissing session, searching my eyes and still having his arm around me and keeping me close.

"I really…really…like you Rose," He said to me in a calm way now, having me lick my lips and smile at him.

"I do too," I said to him, "I like you too, Chato."

"I don't wanna screw this up," He confessed to me in his low tone as he pressed our forehead together again, almost breathing out in a shaky manner with the thought of this relationship going to destruction now. But I shook my head, forever the optimistic, and I cradled his face in my hands there and I saw our tattoos contrast with one another.

"You won't," I promised him, seeing him watch me as I smiled. He was scared to move on, to not look back at what he did and think that it would be different this time. I had to remind him that it was going to be okay, we were going to be okay. I pressed my lips to him once more and we kissed there in the kitchen, the record player playing into the night and the food almost going cold.

The breath of fire on my lips.


	20. Chapter 20

"In here."

I walked in with Flag now as I got a call that something happened at the prison early that morning, waking me up from my sleep. I murmured into the phone what was going on, and it was Flag on the other end.

"Harley's sprung the prison."

Her cell was deserted, the door was opened by some kind of force and bodies were seen all over the place, the bodies of the guards there that were watching her. She had one cot there against the wall, a book there that was sprawled out on the floor and an expression machine against the other wall on top of a table. Out of her cell against the concrete wall, a hole was blown out and rubble was all over the place, having me think that something else was happening, or someone else was here.

"We found this," one of the guards said to Flag as I walked over to the opening of the room, the loose gravel under my feet and the wind that was coming in from the outside. The rubble reached out into the street there, having me look too and I could see the opening of the fence there that this was some kind of setup. I wondered who would be the one who would take Harley….wait a minute. Was she taken by choice? Was it Harley behind it, knowing the kind or personality that she had I would be surprised.

"Rose, over here," Flag said to me to have me look back at him now and see two things in his hand that threw me off of my rocker. One of them was a note that had some kind of elegant note there along the inside, but the top had some kind of symbol there that I didn't recognize.

The Sigma of a Smile

 _Dear Rose,_

 _Sorry for springing the nest far too soon without sayin' goodbye. How could I not leave with my puddin' getting me? I hope you are gonna be okay with the boys, I left ya a gift to remember me by. Take care of them for me, I know they care about ya. Keep lovin' flame boy for me, I know he'll treat ya well._

 _Love ya,_

 _Harley Quinn_

 _PS. Mr. J wants to talk to you in the near future._

Flag handed me the object now as I was looking at the small end of the note, thinking that I was about to get another chill down my spine from who she mentioned wanted to see me. The Joker? Why would be want to see me, and why would he use Harley to get to me? It felt like he was, but it was the Joker. He was so notorious for being beyond creepy and beyond unpredictable. I didn't know what to think about it as I looked down at the object there in my spare hand and I felt how heavy it was.

Harley's bat.

I looked back at Flag in a shocked look now as he was looking at his phone, all of the Squad's faces there on the screen and yet he was looking at it like he's seen a ghost. It made me look too, ti thumb was right over Harley' picture as if he was waiting for the moment to push it.

"Her tracker was deactivated, it wasn't working," He said to me in a low tone,

"How do you know?" I asked him, seeing him think to himself before he answered and shoved the phone back into his pocket.

"Because I tried to kill her on the roof back in Midway….it didn't go off," he explained as I remember back to the moment, weeks and weeks ago. It was about to rain, I remember the smell int he air along with the sound of the rapid gunfire from the machine gun on the chopper. Harley was running, running off the road and onto the rope to grab it and she flew away. Someone was yelling that the bomb for her was not working and they couldn't kill her.

It was smelling fishy as I looked at the battered bat in my hand now, thinking for some reason that someone was looking out for Harley and keeping her around and alive. Was she important, that important? Did this mean that she was gone, forever?

Where was she?

* * *

"Did she say where she was goin'?" Deadshot as me as I was meeting him in his cell there, giving him the news of what happened with Harley.

"She didn't say a word," I replied, leaning against the wall there and see him think about it while sitting on his cot near the wall where I was at, "She left her note and the bat,"

"Nice way to say goodbye I guess," Deadshot mumbled to himself as I sighed, rubbing my face in my hands, "What did the others say?"

"You now how they are," I replied calmly, seeing him nod his head heavily, "But still…I didn't think she would be the one to spring the place early."

"Really?" I asked him now, seeing him eye me from his spot on the cot, "Harley Quinn. of all people here in this person." I knew it was true: she was someone who should be watched carefully and not be trusted fully. She was a true wild card, always out of the ordinary and doing the unexpected. She was both interesting and scary at the same time, so now this was a now predicament that we were in. She might be a new target in the future.

"We're going to have to kill her in the future," I said to him in a statement now I looked back at him and cross my hands in front of me, "Aren't we?"

"We might," He replied shortly, having a bit of a sour look on his own face from the idea of it, "Question is, are we really going to go through with it." Would we go through it, having to put down Harley if we had to? It was a hard place to be since their own lives were in the balance, so it would be her life, or theirs.

I guess I had it semi-easy.

* * *

Things were odd without Harley around the prison and on missions. No one has heard from her since she left and broke out, no clue as to where she was or if she was okay. I was the only one that she left a note for, the only person that she left some kind of clue as to what was going on with her beyond the life of prison.

She was with Mr. J.

The video feed showed up a few hours later, someone broke into her room and got her out. The person who got her out of the cell, she ran into their arms like a long awaited lover of some sort. We need saw their face, nor did we hear any of the audio since it was damaged. I felt like I was the only one who really knew for certain that it was Joker that grabbed her and took her away, but then again they were probably catching on since Waller was not even close to being happy about the whole situation. I knew that if she could get the chance, she would kill Harley within seconds.

That scared me.

But we ventured on, going on with missions that were beyond dangerous and not even close to safe. Waller kept me busy, busy and in line since the mystery of the beings that had needle wounds was getting worse and worse. I was still on the edge of my seat with what was happened to those things, though I felt like I should call them people since they were. I wanted more answers as to what made them that way, and who was behind it.

More and more people were disappearing, and the public was getting restless about it. It was no longer about metahumans being a part of the situation, it was now all about some kind of terrorist attack or a mass kidnapping. No one knew the real situation, which was making it ten times worse we were getting our hands dirty with more and more of those things that were sprouting up all over the place.

We were doing different missions here and there: getting bombs from terrorists out of harms way before they detonate, other villains that were our and about that we had to clean up and send packing.

This time, however, it was out in France.

One of the royal French Houses was being held for ransom in his own home, of course, no one could get new him and they sent us to find him and get him out for safety. He was apparently in line for the throne and it was highly important that he remained alive, but to us, it was just another day on the job and nothing more about it. At least some of us were interested in the fact that we were leaving the country for a wee bit and going over to France, and when I say some of us, I mean Boomerang.

"We can get our hands on some bloody wine! Finally!"

We got the drop in one of the palaces there in the wee hours of the morning as the police were all outside the palace, the sirens going off as we drop down on the roof and made our way in. It was a simple extract routine: Get in, find the prince and get him out. Sure it sounded easy, but I would expect more from this thing we were the kind of squad that was mostly up for life and death. They figured that we would get a shot to rescue the prince in distress, since we were their last effort in doing so, and they didn't matter whether or not we get killed.

Deadshot was taking out some of the terrorists that were trying to block us from going up the stairs and over to the room where he was being held hostage in. I had my own diamond form all over my body as I was blocking Boomerang from the gunshots and Chato was helping Croc by throwing out fireballs at the men too, the four of us making our way up the stairs and over to the room where we found him. Croc busted open the door with his body while Chato and I were fending off the terrorists that were coming up the stairs to try and stop us.

"Keep them there! We can grab him quick!" Boomerang said in earnest now as I shook my head and looked over at him.

"I'll get him, help Diablo!" I said as he walked over and used his own boomerangs in the action and I went through the door. Croc as watching in the corner, away from the prince now as the prince was crowded away from the door. He was hiding, having me go back to my human form now since he would freak from seeing us there.

"It's okay! We're not here to hurt you!" I said to him urgently now as he was looking at me with large eyes there, getting up and looking at me up and down now.

" _Tu parle français_?" He asked me hopefully, having me raise both of my hands to show him I mean no harm. I nodded my head slowly and gave him a small smile.

" _Oui_ ," I replied back to him, " _Nous sommes là pour vous aide_ r."

"More are coming," Croc growled at me as he was looking out the door over his shoulder.

" _Qui es-tu?_ " He asked now, taking a few steps over towards me since he felt like I was safe enough to be around. Before I could answer him, I heard gunfire behind us, whirled around and seeing three gunmen running through the door now and aiming at me. Croc grabbed one of them while I got both of my hands and arms into a diamond form in time to shoot our diamonds at one of them to pin them to the wall and the other fired at me. He was shooting at my hand there as I was blocking him and Croc punched him out on one go. All three of them were out cold now as I sighed in relief and turned around to face the Prince again.

" _Nous sommes Américains_." I replied back to him in a stutter now since he saw the whole thing happened within seconds. He nodded slowly as I heard my ear comm go off.

"Is the Prince harmed?" It was Waller.

"I have him. He's alive and safe. We're going to escort him to the roof now for departure," I explained as the Prince and I were walking out of the room now and over to the hallway again, Croc in front of us now and the Prince eyeing him in concern.

" _C'est un copain_." I reassured the Prince now as Croc was walking in front of us as a bodyguard, someone else talking in on the comm.

"Since when do you speak French?" Deadshot asked, having me look over the railing of the strips that we were using and I could see Deadshot taking out the last of the terrorists on the ground floor.

"Since I grew up in New Orleans, that's when," I said back to him in a snort and under my breath now, hearing him chuckle on the other end.

"May I say, as someone from the opposite sex, that is downright sexy to hear a woman speak French," Boomerang explained in a gleeful manner, having me roll my eyes.

"Back off, Boomerang," Deadshot warned him.

"Or what?" Boomerang reported back.

"I'll torch your ass," I didn't have to say anything about it since I knew who it was that said that warning, and it made me smile since I could hear the heat in his own voice now and how he said it with emotion a bit. He was never one to really let things like this go over him, not when it involved me.

"You two are too damn cute in my opinion," Deadshot said in a snort now as I got the Prince over to the opening that would take us to the roof.

"Sounds like a personal problem, homie," Chato said back to him, the others chuckling now.

It was going to get old real fast.

* * *

"This is bad. This is bad. This is bad."

I was running as fast as I could down the street, hearing the running footsteps behind me as the were trying to pick up their pace with me. I was drawing them out to go around the corner and get into the trap that I had set up with the others. These guys were working for another villain or some kind of villain as he called himself one. He was a gangster, or at least that's what he would call himself one, was raiding the town and killing off people left and right. Once again, Waller sent us out to do this job since the police were all pretty much were held hostage by this guy and his buffoons. Deadshot was going to go after the big guy there with his henchman along with Flag, which led the rest of us with the task of getting rid of his men quickly and quietly.

This was the idea.

"Come on back here, pretty lady!" They crooned at me now as they were running after me with chains, wooden bats, brass knuckles, the works. I was getting the upper hand with them, keeping my pace far ahead of them and dressed like a civilian: a dress cotton dress and shoes on and a purse around my shoulder which was hitting my hip in every stride that I was doing.

This was part of the plan, having me draw them out and over to some end of an alleyway for the others to trap them there and get them all in once swipe. It was almost a way to have the head honcho of a guy stop his actions and have him rethink before taking over the city and thinking that he was going to win. I hoped that this was going to work since I was the only active female in the group and now they were going to use me as bait.

I turned the corner now, dodging the cars and debris that were left there from the attacks by these goons, having me really wonder what these guys were capable of.

"Rose, what's your 20?" Flag asked me in my earpiece.

"You really wanna ask me that?!" I said in a huff as I was running a bit faster now, one of the goons behind me shot a bullet at me and it barely missed me.

"Oh come on, don't hit her! We haven't played with her yet!" One of the guys said in a sarcastic and draw out a howl as I was pumping my arms and getting closer to the exact zone where I knew the others were waiting for me.

"Did they hit you already?" Chato asked me from his ear piece, almost sounding concerned about what he was hearing.

"They didn't hit me, Chato," I reassured him.

"Sounded like they did," He countered back.

"You're not helping and we're not going to argue right now," I wanted him as I dodged a few more cars and I saw the ending zone in sight, "I'll be there in 20 seconds. Be ready for the trap," I said into the comm now as I looked over my shoulder briefly, seeing that they were still running after me and another one of those men were about to hit me with their bullet again.

"Don't miss this time, leave her pretty." One of the guys sneered as the other one was aiming right at me. It made me look forward and get closer to the alley on the right, hopping up onto one of the hoods of the cars and leaping over another with ease to dodge the bullet as I saw the alleyway out of the corner of my eye.

"Shit! Get her Goddamnit!" I turned the corner down the alleyway, reaching into my bag and thong out the device that they gave me to use against the group. It was a booby trap, a magnetic field that could draw out her weapons like a huge magnet and tighten it not a magnetic net. Once the device was on the floor, I kept running down the alley in order to draw them in enough to stop them and to caught them in one go.

"She's got nowhere to run now!"

I was reaching the end of the alley there with a brick building in front of me, having em slow down in my run and keep my back to them. The second part of the plan was in effect now as I was morphing into my diamond form while I was standing there, looking afraid from the backside. They stopped running too, giving em enough space there to look like I was petrified. The form was crawling up my chest over my collarbones and onto neck over m face now without them seeing.

"Let us have our jollies, and we can let you live, eh? One turn for each guy, what do you think boys?" One of them asked, the other snickering now as one of them walked over to where I was, grabbing my arms and turning me around in a jolt. As soon as I was facing him, he looked at me in shock now from what he was seeing: a female with a diamond face. I smirked at him.

"Okay," I replied, moving my arm back and hitting him square in the jaw and hearing the crunch in the jaw there as he fell to the floor there in a heap. The others behind him stared at me in shock now as I aimed my hand there.

"You bitch!" The second one growled, about to throw his knife out at me when a small fireball as thrown at him and it hit near his feet to have him back off a bit.

"I wouldn't do that if I was you, homie," At all of them looked at the other person that popped out of nowhere right next to me: Chato, "You touch her, I'll burn you to a crisp." They were all looking at him in shock and almost in horror now as he stood close by me.

"Y'all ain't going nowhere from here," He said to them now as the magnetic force behind them clicked on and their weapons were all flowing away from them within seances. They were weaponless now, look gin at the both of us in shock as Chato had one of his hands in a flame and my hand was ready for shooting out a diamond at them if needed.

"Y'all are freaks!" One of them said, about to run over at the two of us when Chato shot his fire at the ground, hitting the line of gas that we drew both in front of us and behind the goons, trapping them inside two walls of fire as Boomerang threw his weapon out to show the goons and relay the video to Deadshot and the leader. Chato and I looked at each other and I eyed him. My diamond form was going away and I was looking again as I looked at his brown eyes.

"Is you protecting me from everything going to be a 'thing' for now on?" I asked him, seeing him give me a serious look as he placed his hand on the ground now.

"Yep," his simple reply was to me, having me shake my head.

"I can hold my own," I reminded him.

"I know you can," He reminded me then, having me give him a small smile as the flames were dancing there in front of the goons and the sound of our chopper was coming over the area. Why was I smiling there in that moment, or the fact that we had another successful mission there? But it might have been for the fact that Chato and I were grinning at each other, even after an argument there while working.

He leaned over and planted a warm kiss on my lips there, the dancing flames there were planted on our faces as we had a simple kiss there and I pulled away with a grin on my face. I was once again breathless from a kiss with him, and of course in the scene of flames as he smiled at me lovingly.

"You're gonna get me in more trouble than I'm worth," I warned him in a low manner as the chopper was getting louder and louder to get the goones.

"It'll be worth it, though, with you." He reminded me as I laced my diamond formed hand and fingers with his fire infused fingers.

Almost like a perfect mold.


	21. Chapter 21

"How are we supposed to take out this bomb?

"In one piece I guess?"

"Shit, I ain't doin' it."

We were all looking up at a hanging bomb that was swaying back and forth on a crane that was stuck on some kind of mechanism that wasn't letting it move. We were all in a new mission and predicament: a bomb about to go off if we don't dismount it and get it out there before it would explode and damage the city.

"Waller wants us to dump it near the river at least," Deadshot explained as we were all looking high about us at the swinging bomb that was swaying back and forth slightly with the wind. The whole area was evacuated and we were the first to be called to dismounting and dialing a bomb.

"So what…someone has to crawl up there and disable it before it goes off?" Chato asked as I looked at the bomb myself, trying to think of the possibilities that could happen for us and what couldn't work. So far, I was loosing ideas.

"That's her plan," Deadshot replied back to him.

"As if we know how to bloody take off a bomb," Boomerang muttered to the group now.

"Apparently the rest of the police here there thinking the same thing. Alright, how do we do it," Flag said to us now as we were standing there together and time was slowly running out for us to just stand there and not making a move. I thought of something that could be dangerous, really dangerous on my end now.

"I'll go up there," All of them were looking at me now as I was looking at the bomb now, "Flagg will feed me what to d up there and I'll take care of the bomb as long as someone moves the crane over to the river there."

"You're gonna be blown up if it goes wrong," Deadshot said to me in a warning, "It's too risky."

"Not with my diamond form on," I reminded him, seeing him think to himself now as Chato spoke up, walking over to me now as he was looking at the bomb too.

"It's not safe enough for you to do it on your own," He explained, now having me look over at him now with a raised eyebrow. Once again, he was playing the protection car don me, and for some real reason, I was having enough of that from him.

"I can handle something like that," I reasoned, but he shook his head.

"It's a bomb, Rose," He said in a lower register now, as if to prove his point.

"And this is our job, Diablo. We have to disable it and I'm the only one on the team that can do it and not get hurt if something does go south," I explained as I took a deep breath now. I could see it there, the uncertainty and was uneasiness written all over his face. But there was also the small amount of anger that he was trying to hold back, he wanted to argue with me and hold me back.

We were going to have a fight.

He pulled me away from the group and we were on our own from the others, now a bit closer to me as he stared at me with a hard look.

"Why are you gonna do this?" He asked me with his voice so low that I could hear the boom there between us.

"Because it's my job, Chato," I said back to him calmly, trying to keep myself calm in this situation now since he was the one that was getting me angry and I was the one who was trying not to be protected all the time by him.

"No, it's all of our job, not just yours." He reminded me, pointing his finger at me now and I could see the heat rising in his anger. I was now staring at him with a hard look now as he went on, "Don't keep throwing yourself into this kind of shit just to prove a point! Don't be stupid!"

"You think that's what I'm doing?" I asked him, feeling like he was trying to pick at me with things that I was still working on. He thought I was trying ti prove how strong I was from my past since he knew plenty compared to the others from all the talks that we had, but now it felt like he was bringing it back around again now.

"Talbert, we need you to go dismantle the bomb, now," Waller said in my earpiece as I was staring up at Chato with a hard stare now, not wanting to deal with this anymore. We were never one to fight, this was our first real one about myself and how I viewed myself in my life. I moved away from him, not bothering with him and trying to reason with him anymore. That was over, and I was mad at him for pulling that card on me.

"What are you gonna do?" Croc asked me now as I walked past him and took off my jacket that I was wearing, showing my sleeveless shirt and combat vest there and my skin being cold there in the wind as I could feel my own diamond form coming over me.

"I'm gonna prove a point."

* * *

The whole area shook now as I stood on the end of the chain from the crane and the bomb went off in the river, the explosion was making waves there within the water and the whole place lit up for brief second from the force of the bomb. Even the ground shook as I was swaying in the wind of the chain there, holding on as I was morphing back from my full diamond form to my human form again, looking over at the others who were watching and Flag who was at the controls of the crane there.

"Well done," Flag said to my ear now as he was moving the crane over to where the sidewalk was and the others were waiting for the both of us. I was still fuming from the fight I had with Chato, thinking that I was once again placed in an awkward place but now from him. I knew what I was there to help and to get the job done, and yet he thought I was going to get in trouble and almost killed over and over again. Did he think I was restless and not careful? Did he think that this was some kind of game with me and that he could control me? I already had someone like that in my life and it ended me in jail because that trust was long gone.

So it was not going to happen to me again. Even with him.

I landed on my feet in front of my the others now, none of them said a word or smiled. I sneezed that they knew Chato and I had a fight, and I was not at all embarrassed by it. I just needed some air and being away from them, get my head back in shape and not think about this fight that I just had. I didn't know if he was putting me in my place or just trying to make sure I knew I was doing, but either way, it was rubbing me the wrong way.

"Well done, Talbert," Deadshot said to me as I walked over to the group, but not joking them and just walking past them without another word about. I walked back Chato, seeing his eyes on me the whole time and I could see some twinge of regret there with his eyes. I wondered what he was thinking about in that moment as I walked by him like he didn't even exist. But it was only for a second since I was still mad at him

I wanted to be in peace.

* * *

A few days later Flag called me into the quad where the others were saying, and he sounded desperate there on the phone as I was about to head over to the prison anyhow and talk to him about another mission that was coming up. Since my fight with Chato, I steered clear from the others and mostly him since I was fuming from the jab at my pride and thinking that I was stupid. It was making me mad, seeing his stubborn side coming through and having me feel bitter at him and at myself at the same time. Who knew he had that in him to bring out something like that in me. I never saw it coming.

"Come on," Flag urged me as we were now jogging through the main hall over to a familiar part of the cells. it was churning my stomach to why he needed help over there, it made me worry that it had something to do with someone in the Squad. But as soon as we turned a corner, I felt my heart drop to my feet now since I could see the flames roaring out into the hallway a bit, some of the men were screaming out in both fear and agony.

Chato.

"How long as this been goin' on?" Flag asked as we jogged close enough for us to meet with another guard, who looked like he was about to pass out in fear. Flames were everywhere in the cell, and I could see someone in the middle roaring out in pain and in anger now as he was breathing out more flames from his hands like he was in some kind of trance.

"For about an hour now. He started it without talking to anyone, nothing set him off. It just happened," The guard explained as another roar came through the area now and more flames were being ignited now in the whole area. He was not in his right mind, I could see it from where I was and how he was behaving like something that playing tricks on him. His own face was blind by something else that was not like Chato, not the Chato that I knew.

"This is me begging you, Rose. I'm asking you to go and try to talk to him," I looked at him in shock now as Flag looked at me with a serious look in his eye, "No one else was able to, not even Deadshot and Boomerang. I think you're the only one that can talk him down." It was sticky situation to be in, to be the only one that someone could talk down from a ledge of some sort. The fight I had with Chato some time before was now out the window as I was looking over to the cell there and seeing more flames. Now matter how mad I was at him, I still cared about him through and through.

"You better make it quick before Waller comes back and decides to kill him," Flag advised me as I was going into my diamond form without hesitation there. I walked over slowly, the cell door was already opened but Chato was not going out, already trapped in his mind there and not thinking about anything else. I could feel the heat there as it was rising around me, some of the flames touching my diamond skin and they were licking me, telling me to go back. I was getting closer and closer now to the edge of the cell, placing my diamond hand there on the bar and I watched him for a moment as the fire was getting more intense around me.

He was still screaming, rowing back and forth and the flames were going along with him now as I was waiting for some kind of moment for me to step in there and trying to stop him. Was he seeing something in his mind that set it off like a trigger? What was he seeing? I felt afraid and scared for him as the flames were now engulfing me, having me be the only one close enough to him as the others moved away and gave him space.

Finally, I moved towards him slowly, trying not to spook him now as he roared another great boom of a voice and it was filling the whole room with fear, the heat in his eyes as he was thrashing and not stopping at all. I had to be able to be brave enough to face him and stop him from either hurting others or hurting himself.

When I was close enough, I reached out and grabbed one of his arms that were close to me, seeing him thrash a bit and look right at me. His chocolate eyes were gone, they were now fierce red and they were glistening in anger and fear. I watched him with my own diamond eyes now, giving him a reassuring now as we locked eyes together and he stopped moving like he was frozen solid there and I smiled at him.

"Chato," I whispered to him over the flames, watching him staying so still there and watching me like a hawk now as I was staying so still there. My diamond hand was on his fiery arm and nothing else mattered. Not the fight we had, not the fear that we were going to fall apart: nothing. All that mattered was the two of us.

"It's okay," I said to him calmly, the fires around us were dying down and his own breathing was calming from my own words. He was slowly coming back, his breathing was still harsh but it felt like something was opening up inside of him and he had no real way to controlling it, something raw and unsure. The flames were slowly dying away as were the ones of his body, seeing his tattoos again and his face that looked shell shocked from what happened to him. Finally, after mere moments of waiting there and holding onto him, his eyes were normal again.

"Hey," I said to him softly, seeing him almost tremble there from what he did, like he was getting his memory back to him now. The opening of his eyes made me now feel like he was about to break into a thousand pieces.

"I'm sorry," He said in a gasp as I was morphing back to normal now, seeing the pain there on his face, "I'm sorry….so sorry." He was about to cry there, and as soon as I was back to my human form I wrapped my arms around him and he hugged me back, trembling there and resting his head against my neck there. I could still feel the heat from his episode, but I said nothing as he was clutching me like a lifeline.

"I saw them burnin' in my head….me pushing them away….and it was the same way for you," He said to me into my neck as I just held him and tried not to have him get riled up again,"I'm so sorry…..I'm sorry…"

"Shhh, it's okay," I reassured him, feeling him grip the back of my shirt so tight and I held him closer still, "It's okay with us, Chato. It's all okay."

It was a hard thing for him to go through something like that and think that he lost me too from one simple fight. That's all it was, a fight between two people who cared. I have seen my parents fight and those were bloody and vicious, but this fight was nothing like it. I wasn't going to make it like that, I was not going to have a repeat of what happened with my family be with Chato and I. Chato may have thought it was an end, but not me. So I would repeat the same phrase to Chato over and over now as he would calm down in my arms, having us reset our relationship again.

Of course, the optimist.

"I'm not going anywhere, Chato. I promise I'm not going anywhere."


	22. Chapter 22

I woke up from another nightmare, once again involving my father there and the beer bottle hitting my head and having me collapse to the floor with the burning feel of blood there along the skin. I hated this nightmare, it was the same one that I would have over, and over, and over again now. I had nothing else that was going to drive me to get back to sleep since I was afraid of seeing my father again there when I closed my eyes.

Being in those walls back at my apartment, hearing the familiar sounds from the outside world going by and turning without without my consent. It was killing me how I was still not willing to go on with my own life from the demons of the past. This was not how I wanted to live and be a better person, it felt like Iw as going to be moving backward instead of forwards.

I had to get out of there.

"What are you doin' here so late?" The guard asked me when I showed up with my duffle bag. I was wearing sweats and a loose crew sweatshirt, my hair pulled back in a loose ponytail and bags under my eyes.

"Rough night," I merely replied to him as I approached the front gate near the fence, "Can I crash for the night?"

"I don't see why not. Most of the people in there are asleep, we got a few bunks you can snag." He replied as he opened the front gate where he was staying and locked it behind him, "I'll take you in."

"Waller won't be mad?" I asked him as we walked together, seeing him shake his head.

"She's gone for the next few days. Some big wig thing at the pentagon. Flag was in charge while she's away, and he's at home with Dr. Moone. You'll be fine," He reassured me as we were about to enter the prison there in the dead of night. I felt relieved then, going towards the fence there and seeing the familiar concrete walls that were reaching up to the sky, almost like they were fingers reaching up to the heavens for mercy from God. Maybe that is what I needed, mercy from God for all that happened to me in the past. This place, as a burden for some, was my sanctuary and my safe haven.

This was a good home.

I walked along the dark hallway that would lead over to the guard's area where they slept. I walked along there alone, since the guard that escorted me in knew that I knew where I was going and that the inmates there were mostly asleep. They wouldn't notice me since I was so quiet about it, and I was going along some familiar cells and one particular tank.

Chato's tank.

Was he awake? Did he have insomnia like me of his past? I was watching his tank at first, wondering how he sleeps at night and if it would be comfortable for him in there? I looked ahead again, thinking of sleep and how I haven't had a good night's rest in a long time. But he was in my head, over and over with that bottle about it hit me, about to mark me….

"Rose?"

I froze, hearing that voice and thinking that I was dreaming or sleep deprived. He sounded sleepy, almost out of it himself now as I looked over to my left where the voice came from. There he was, in what looked like to be a regular cell with an upper window and a lower window for the food to go through. I saw him looking through the first window there, seeing me as I walked over slowly to make sure that I was seeing the right person.

"Chato?" I asked, finally seeing him in the small amount of light from his cell room and the hallway I was in, "Why aren't you in your tank?"

"Waller moved me, she thought I could use some elbow room." He replied, looking at me up and down and grimacing a bit, "What's going on?"

"I…couldn't sleep," I explained quietly to him as I shifted my grip on my duffle bag slightly now as I was thinking about it now in my head, almost not wanting to cry there in the middle of the night in the middle of a prison quad. I looked back at him, seeing him watch me carefully now as I was taking in my own breaths and he waited, "I had a nightmare…about my dad."

"That bad huh?" He asked me, I nodded slowly.

"It's the same one…with the beer bottle and…" I couldn't even finish it since I was too pathetic and about to cry about something that happened so long ago. I could see in Chato's eyes his own heart breaking from what I told him and a tear fell from my cheek to the floor. Carefully I saw him reach out through the smaller door, his hand out in front of me there and I took it without a single thought. I felt his graze his thumb along my skin there as a way to comfort me.

"Hey," He said to me finally, having me look at him from our joined hands, "I have an idea."

* * *

"Why weren't you asleep either?" I asked him quietly now as we were facing each other, the small food slot there was our only avenue for being there within physical contact. I got a cot from one of the guard rooms and I moved it over to Diablo's cell, shoving it right in front of him and laying down on it and facing him as he got his own cot there against the door since his cell had a moveable bed, it was barely used in the first place.

"I couldn't sleep either, it happens with me" He explained to me as he looked at me through the small slot that we had together there, our hands were still connected and not willing to let go of each other, "Thinking about Harley…how she's doing out there."

"She's the with Joker…so who knows how she's doing," I commented back to him, "You think she's thinking about us, back here at the prison?"

"I think so," He answered, "I mean, the girl's not cold hearted like I thought she was when I first met her, but she's no real hero either."

"She had a good heart, somewhere in there," I added, seeing him smile softly as I said that about Harley, "Still, I bet you she's okay." She had to be okay, she knew how to take care of herself when we would do the plenty of missions and how she would speak her own mind. It made me wonder if she was always like that, always outspoken and independent. Did the Joke have anything to do with it? That was the other thing that I had to think about and be worried about: the note from Harley that said Mr. J wanted to meet me.

"Her note that she left me," I said out of the blue, seeing the handwriting in my head and the smile there on top of the note, "Harley told me that Mr. J wanted to meet me."

"From what that I know of the guy, he's dangerous," Chato explained, making me look at him in confusion.

"Dangerous like us?" I asked him, seeing him shake his head.

"Naw, way more dangerous. Like he's sick in the head or somethin'. Some of the stuff he did when the Bat was after him…it makes us look like the good guys you know?" He asked me, having me nod my head from hearing about him in the past and what he did all around Gotham. He was insane, beyond insane if there was a word for it, and he didn't mind what he did. There was no seance guess to his own sanity there, and now Harley was with him.

"Why would he wanna meet with you?" Chato asked me as I was thinking the same question.

"Don't know, maybe she mentioned me to him and thought about….who knows," I said to him in almost a low manner as I was trying to piece together the complicated puzzle that was Harley Quinn. She was complex and get simple at the same time, cold when it came to killing but warm when it came to our friendship. Things with her were not black and white, they were all in between now as I snuggled a bit into my pillow, feeling the sense of sleep coming through me but the fear of seeing my father again there in my dream as before.

"You should get some sleep," Chato said to me as he could see the heaviness in my eyes there and how I was loosening my grip with his hand, but I looked at him in a weary fashion.

"Call me silly, but I don't want to have another nightmare about him. I don't think I can handle it again," I said almost bitterly now, making me feel miserable about it and seeming more like a child with those thoughts than a full grown woman. It wasn't like me to fear something like this about anything, all except my father whom still had some kind of hold on me and my life no matter how far I tried to run from him.

"I'll be here if you wake up," He reassured me as he squeezed our joined hands together there in the middle of the door where we found a comfortable spot. I saw him watch me carefully there as we were sitting there in silence for a moment or two now, just drinking in the dead of the night and the soothing sounds of the prison there as I closed my eyes, my hand still holding his until the wee hours of the morning.

I would have to sneak back to my own living quarters and leave a kiss on Chato's hand.

* * *

"Have you seen this?" I walked into the REC Quad where the rest of the Squad was meeting the next afternoon since they were all given some time outside, all thanks to Flag. I walked out to join them since I wasn't going to go back to my own apartment anytime soon anyhow, and since Waller was not going to be back anytime soon, this was a good enough time for me to have some kind of free reign over the area before I would have to scatter from the likes of Waller.

"Seen what?" Boomerang asked as Flag too was walking over to us in the area. It was rare for him to talk with us out here and not with his phone in hand to make sure that we were listening to his every word.

"This," he said, holding up his phone for all of us to see. It was a video clip from the news, and it was in Gotham.

"The infamous villain called The Joker was seen robbing another bank, which makes it was the third time this week. He is accompanied by Ex-Doctor and seconding in command of his ranks, Harley Quinn," I looked over at Chato now in worry as we heard her name being said by the anchor there. He reached over, the two of us holding hands there as the anchor went on with the story.

"Because of the disappearances of metahumans and the recent events of riots, Police are looking in to see if The Joker his accomplices are linked to with the metahumans. There is some speculation as to the disappearance may, in fact, be linked to terrorist attacks, but further investigations will be looked into by the authorities." Flag turned off the phone now, leaving us a bit speechless then and looked at each other in uncertainty. Since she left us, Harley was on our radar with questions filling our heads as to hat we will think of her in the future if we do have to find her and kill her. I was more on edge with it than anything, but I didn't know what the others were thinking about when it came to her.

"Just a heads up…in case Waller….you know," Flag said in uncertainty.

"Wants us to kill her?" Boomerang asked her, Croc growling in an unapproved manner and Chato was shaking his head.

"I don't like this, this whole thing man," Chato said to him in a grim manner.

"I don't either, but it's not like we have a choice here," He said to us all, "I showed you that to have a heads up in case we do have to get her,"

"I hope not," I said from my own spot, Chato squeezing my hand there tight to show silently that he agreed. It was as bomber thought, thinking that she might have some kind of involvement with the metahumans and them disappearing. It didn't seem like her style, not to me really as I was thinking about it. If she was with The Joker, robbing banks and wreaking havoc in Gotham, then that should be it for them both, right?

* * *

"You have a lot of records," Chato was once again visiting my place for a few hours, under supervisions of Flag who trusted Chato enough to give us space and only wait outside the apartment and do some work there. Waller would be back in a day, so that gave me more time with just Chato and he was over at my place once again.

"You didn't listen to records?" I asked him, "I did all the time. I love vinyl."

"Naw, I'm a cassette kind of guy." He said to me as he looked at each vinyl there in my plastic tub that I kept them in.

"Awww, you're old school. That's cute," I said to him in a joking tone, seeing him eye me over his shoulder as I walked over to stand next to him and looking through a couple before I grabbed a record that I liked.

"Which one's that one?" He asked as he watched me place the record on the turntable and turn it on.

"Leon Bridges. He has a good voice," I said to him as the record started to spin and I placed the needle on. In a few seconds, the song _Lisa Sawyer_ starts to play over the player softly and filling the room. He listened for a few seconds there, hearing the sound of the song go all over the place there in the room as I smiled.

"I don't listen to this kind of music," He advised me as the words were filling the room from the player and I shrugged my shoulders.

"I like it, it reminds me of my home and growing up," I explained as I closed my eyes for a brief moment, thinking of my mother and the happiest of times that we had when I was young, it gave me a small flicker of hope there that I could have some kind of day like that in my own future.

I felt him placing his arms around me and hugging me close, almost throwing me off guard when he did that since it was something that I did not expect from him in that moment. I opened my eyes to see him looking down at me with warm eyes there, making em feel butterflies again now as I wrapped my arms around his neck.

"What's gotten into you?" I asked him in a chuckle now as we were pressed together again, seeing him shrug his shudders and stay close to me.

"I just felt like it," He replied casually now as I felt his fingers there on my lower back, keeping them steady there and not moving but the heat of his fingers were against my thin shirt and it almost left my legs to feel like jelly.

"You're pretty bold there," I said in a cautious manner, "Gettin' a bit too close to me for my liking."

"Oh really?" He asked, sensing the tease that I was giving him, "What are you going to do about it?"

"You testing me, flame boy?" I asked him then with my own tease of a tone, the music was still going on there and we were just staring at each other, warmth there that was almost sizzling and getting to the surface. It was good to be back at a good place with him again from our fight in the past and him having a moment there of despair in the cell and within his own mind.

He kissed me then, the both of us holding it there and once again feeling that pooling sensation there within my stomach from his kiss, and it soothing and yet addicting at the same time. This one felt bold compared to the others one that we shared in the past, in which he poured a bit more into this one as he pressed into me a bit more. I kept my arms around his neck as I kissed him back, hearing him almost give me a low groan from the back of his throat as he kissed me within seconds, another bold kiss against my own lips. One of my hands when to his shirt to hold on for dear life since it felt like some kind of dream that I would wake up from.

A switch for some reason went off in me, something that made me snap there and I felt my tongue reach out and touch his lips. Within an instant, something snapped in him too, his one arm wrapping all the way around me and almost pulling me off my feet and his other hand touching my collarbone with his fingertips and his fingers leaving a hot trail on my skin.

"Jesus," I gasped against his lips as he pulled away from me from our make out session, a first for us as I was just trying to breathe again and get my mind back to its place. That one threw me for a loop, literally getting me off my feet as Chato lowered me to the ground and I looked down at his shirt that I was still clutching. I realized that my hand turned into a diamond from the emotion rollercoaster that I went through, and I made a hole in his shirt.

"Oh," I breathed, seeing the hole in his shirt, his tattoos on his chest though there. I was watching him look too, a small smile on his face.

"I got plenty of those, don't worry about it," He replied to me casually now as I released his damaged shirt and reached up to rake my finger along the back of his neck. I could almost hear him purr from that, nuzzling slightly into my hands there and licking his own lips.

"I wish I could stay longer here with you…and just…" he trailed off, once again out of breath as I finished the sentence for him.

"Kiss?" I asked in a gasp and suggestion, seeing him chuckle a bit and nod his head as both of his arms went back around me again and it made me feel safe.

"Yeah," He said in his chuckle there as I nuzzled into him a bit more, feeling him holding me close there.

"I want the same thing too, _Chere_ ," I said to him.

" _Chere_?" He asked me, having me smile against his skin.

"It means Sweet one," I replied to him, the both of us hold each other quietly there in the room as I was thinking about it for a moment or two. It was already big for me to call him my Sweet One, it felt like I just jumped off a bridge there and was waiting for him to either to catch me or let me fall. He didn't coil back, which was once for me on my mind and it felt good, but it made me consider what else was there for the both of us.

Was love going to come in the mix?


	23. Chapter 23

"I've talked to some of our lawyers that are connected to your family, and it seems as though you have been given a good amount of money," I was sitting across the table from a lawyer that wanted to talk to me about something involving my family. This was first since he never talked to me about my family before. But apparently this had to wait since earlier on I was in jail, and my identity to the outside world was kept secret all thanks to Waller. She wanted to make sure I was safe there outside the prison walls, inc as something were to happen. So, thanks to her, they finally flagged me down when it came to my family and their affairs.

"You're the sole child of Mary and Jackson Talbert, and because of that, you get sole possession and some of their assets that were placed down in their trust fund," The lawyer explained to me as I watched him. Flag and Waller were outside the room, giving us privacy since I wasn't a prison and they didn't need a supervisor. But they were still watching from the window on the other side of the room. The lawyer pulled out a thick file there, neat handwriting on the papers there and I knew it was my mother who did that. But how long ago.

"My parents never mentioned this," I said to him cautiously now as he tapped his finger there on the file.

"Your mother wanted it that way," He explained, having me watch him in confusion, "Let me explain: they did have a trust fund for you. However, you father tried on many occasions to cut you off from that fund and was not willing to have you get a single cent if something were to happen to either one of them."

"Sounds like him," I dryly replied.

"He was a piece of work, that man. Fortunately, both parties or both parents have to be in a mutual agreement to remove a offspring or party member from the trust fund, and since your mother was willing to keep you in the trust fund, you were not removed from it. You still have rights to claim that fund at any time since you're over the age of 25," He explained, having em look over at the file now both in curiosity and in earnest. They spoke of no fund at all and it was having me wonder what they were doing with something like that involving me.

"And we have another fund for you," he explained, opening the file and shifting through some papers a bit now as I looked at him now in shock from hearing the news, "Your mother had her own separate trust fund for you in case anything were to happen to her. It was private tight lid fund, no one else knew about it except for myself and your mother, it was the way she wanted it. Now, both fund, when given time and no money was taken in or out, started to grow and now they both are within a reasonable amount for you to have whenever you like."

"If I may ask, how much is it for both?" I asked not wanting to sound look or shock but I was still out of it from hearing about two separate funds, just for me.

"Let's see," He explained, looking a couple of papers here and there now as he then saw what he was looking for, "With your parents, the total comes out to about $300,000 dollars."

"Damn," I whispered under my breath.

"And your mother…it comes to 1.5." I looked at him with wide eyes as he said that simple number there, the ground beneath me feeling like butter and I found my voice once more.

"1.5….." I said slowly.

"1.5 million dollars. It's all yours, Miss Talbert."

* * *

"Shit," Chato said as he looked at the amount there on the kitchen table that I wrote down for him to see. He was having another visiting day, some time after I talked to my lawyer and he looked over at me now with a shocked look from seeing the amount of 0's there.

"That's…" He trailed off, pointing to the paper.

"1.8 million dollars," I said to him slowly, still thinking about it and making my head spin as he looked back at the paper, hunched over it with his hands on the table and working it out in my head, "My mother's been saving for me since I was little, even before I was born."

"But that' s a lot of money to save away, she didn't touch it or anything?" He asked me now as I sat down there next to him at the table.

"No, she asked for some money from my grandparents and they gave it to her without a second thought to it. They were helping her without telling my dad anything, making sure I had enough if something happened to my mother," I explained to him now as I breathed out slowly, "It's all mine."

"What are you going to do the money?" He asked me, having em shrug my shoulders now as I was still trying to work out the logistics of the whole time myself.

"Don't know, I'm gonna save more than half of it for sure, maybe invest in some of it," I suggested, looking over at him now, "What should I do with it?"

"Don't ask me that, I'll make you spend it to the very ask penny," He said in a joke now as I smiled at him, thinking about it some more and biting the inside of my lip then.

"I still don't get how they wouldn't have told me about this: saving up this money for me without at least giving me some kind of hit when I was old enough," I explained to him almost in a bitter manner, "I know my dad didn't want me to have that money, I get that. But still, some kind of hint would have been nice."

"No kiddin'," Chato agreed, "But at least they were still looking out for you."

"But with this much?" I asked him, still unconvinced, he shrugged his shoulders.

"Your mom wanted you to safe if somethin' happened to her, you know?" He reminded me, having me sigh and laced our fingers there on top of the table and I slowly smiled.

"You know, I think you would have liked her a lot, Chato," I voiced, seeing him smirk at me now as I said that.

"Really?" he asked, "Tell me about her."

"Well for one, she's smart. Very smart, way smarter than me. She loves to garden and raise up flowers, all kinds of flowers that she can get her hands on," I explained to him with a small smile there, seeing her face within my head and how lovely she looked.

"She's beyond beautiful," I added as I felt his fingers there dancing along my skin there as I was thinking about her some more and that small shimmer of love was resting along my lower stomach from his simple touch there, "She would sing sometimes when I was sad, or even when I was happy. Like I said, you would have loved her."

"I think I would have loved her too, she seems like a great lady. Reminds me of someone…" I looked up and over at him, seeing him watch me carefully as he said it with a thickness there in his voice that reminded me of some kind of trance. It was making it hard for me to breath from just his stare now as I felt my own fingers there dancing along his tattoos along his arms, not even thinking about it.

"Who?" I asked in a lower tone, almost not wanting him to answer that as he leaned a bit closer to my touch on his arm, almost having me lose my train of thought as his eyes would flicker from my eyes to my lips. He was almost trudging on uncharted territory with me there so close to him and I could see and feel the warmth there on his skin.

"You," He said against my lips, kissing me there hotly as I immediately kissed him back without even thinking about it. It was like the rational part of me was long gone and another part of me took over, the part that wanted this with him more than I could even admit.

I stood up there from the chair, still kissing him slowly and yet with heat behind it as he framed my face within his hands, every kiss felt like a lick of fire and I was grabbing his sides there to have something to stable myself in. But he leaned down and wrapped both of his arms around me, lifting me up and my own legs going around his waist and staying there as he was kissing along my jaw there and over to my neck, having me gasp out in the new feeling and almost moan there in his ear.

"How long do you….shit…do you have until you go back?" I asked in a harsh whisper as he was close enough to give me a hickey on my skin there, feeling him smirk against my sensitive skin. He pulled away and moved some of the hair away from my face with trembling fingers, his lips were almost cherry red.

"Long enough," He gruffly replied, having me smirk and kiss him square on the mouth.

* * *

In the wee hours of the morning, I was laying side by side with Chato there in my bed, the both of us were just sturgeon at each other and the smiles were never leaving our faces as if they were plastered there. It happened out of the blue, both quickly and in slow motion at the same time as we were coming down from that high we both climbed together. From that experience alone, everything felt soothing and right there in between us. It was almost mind blowing what we did and how it came within a surge of a moment.

He was beyond gentle with me, as if he was going to hurt me throughout the whole time we made love together. He would ask me if I was alright, if he was going too fast or if he was hurting. But it was beyond words, almost making me lose my own breath and thoughts there as we did it and finished together. With all the people in the world, I have this kind of moment with him.

I wouldn't take that back.

He reached over and laced our fingers together, the both of us were wrapped in the covers and the soft faint of the night was in the heard in the room as he looked at our joined hands, the soft glisten was there still in his eyes and on his face.

"Would you take back what we did?" He asked me softly, looking at me slowly now as he was waiting for me to run from him, having me shake my head slowly at him now from the thought of doing such a thing.

"Not in a million years, Chere," I replied back without a second thought to it, seeing him watch me and use that nickname on him, a smirk there on his lips as I brought our joined hands over to my lips to kiss it there. I didn't take it back. None of what we did together. With every fight, every scar, every time we fought together on the team, and every kiss that we gave one another.

"I wouldn't either, _mi Amor_." He said back to me, having me smile widely at him as he used that new nickname on me and it gave my heart a flutter from hearing him say it so eloquently.

"What does that mean I wonder?" I asked him coyly as he leaned over, almost hovering over me as he leaned down to press his lips against my own.

"Take a wild guess," He hotly whispered before kissing me again.

* * *

I stood outside my childhood home, thinking that this was beyond a bad idea now since I was getting all of these memories thrown at me like a hand grenade and it was exploding there in front of me. I looked at all the house there with the white shutters, the pale yellow painted walls and the iron fence there in the front and the flowers there along the edge of the fence. It looked pretty with the new people that were living there, they cleaned it up a bit since I lived there.

It was funny to think that I lived there.

I could see everything that happened in there: The good and the bad. It was all meshing together and almost looking like a blurry movie that was I seeing all over again. The piano in the corner of the living room that was barely played when I was getting older, the hallway that had all the pictures of me growing up, the old fashioned windows that were opened to breathe in the flowers. I knew those memories like they were embedded underneath my skin.

But I also knew of the pain there.

The running on the hardwood floors, the slamming of the doors. It was all there and it felt like a dull knife was digging right where it hurts, twisting and pulling. It was almost making me sick to stand there and see where I grew up and where I felt pain. A home was supposed to be a safe place, not a place of fear and sadness. But I was the one who had it there, which was worse to think about. I wanted a real childhood, not the one that I was robbed into having, Should I blame my father for all of it, having this plague of hate simmering under the skin for him, not understanding who I was and how I wanted to live? He not only lashed out at me but at my mother as well.

I walked away from the house now, seeing the cool sunlight on my face now as I was thinking about him and feeling more and more in despair and in hate. It was not fair what he did to me and my mother, and it felt like I should punish him for some reason, wanting him to feel the same pain that he inflicted me when I was growing up. But something inside me was holding me back, not reaching that breaking point that I knew I had and taking the plunge into sin. I knew who it was, the one who told me to be good over the bad and to be better than the world would hand to me.

My mother.

* * *

I was back at the prison, sitting by myself now at the REC quad there in the soft quietness of the night. I didn't know where else to do with my thoughts since my own apartment didn't feel good enough for me. This place did, the walls I lived behind for 5 years. It was funny how a place like a prison can do that to a person: bring them safety in a world that didn't want them there. It still felt like that, the thought of not being wanted out in the world. This was supposed to be my sanctuary, and nowhere else to be fair. But I still felt conflicted and hollow, after all, I went through and experienced; I was still feeling as if I was out of my body and out of my control in my own head. Where did I even fit in with the world?

I was sitting with my legs drawn to my chest, my chin on my knees and my eyes looking up at the moon, wondering these things and not hearing the person coming up from behind me. He was walking so softly and carefully, trying not to scare me as I was feeling as though I was so small in the world that I was in. Everything was moving so fast around me: Harley leaving, Chato and I's relationship, the disappearances of Metahumans, and just me in general. It felt very chaotic and I needed time to just….stop. It was almost suffocating on how I was feeling like I was seeing a car crash without being able to stop it.

"Rose."

I stay quiet as he walked up to stand next to me, slowly sinking down to sit next to me now and sitting to have his arms rest there along the top of his knees and he was watching me carefully now as I was staying so quiet, not wanting to talk about it. It felt too much to tell him about my woes and sadness. I was seeing my father in my head, heading his screams at me and shouts that he hated me….he hated me….

"Come here," He wrapped his arms around me and I almost melted into his embrace, not saying a word and nor did he. He was holding me close to have me hear his heartbeat against his chest through his white shirt and prison jumpsuit, his arms were secure enough to be my shield now as I was silent crying there in his embrace. He didn't need to ask, he already knew what it looked like after seeing me there in that kind of state. I wondered how he would know something like that about me without saying a single word about it. Once again he felt warm, but I wasn't thinking about his warmth, I was thinking of my father and how he would do something like that to me.

Break me into a thousand pieces.

"I got you, okay?" He asked me a hushed tone against my hair as he was almost rocking me there in his arms, "I promise you, I got you. I ain't gonna let you go, you hear me? I'm going nowhere without you, Rose."

He was trying to protect me from my mind, I knew he was in how he said it like it was some kind of vow for me to have there. I knew he would protect me from anything that could harm me, at first it was the physical things. But now it,w as protecting me from my head and all of those thoughts that were poisoning me. He didn't deserve to do that, and I didn't deserve someone like him. Maybe he knew what it was like to feel alone in your head, to have nothing to really hold onto for dear life from what happened in the past. Maybe he knew what it was like to feel as though you were drowning in things that were out of your control.

He knew more about me than I gave him credit for.

I felt him kiss my hair and snuggle into me a bit more now as I stayed quiet and tried to listen to his breathing, to connect to something that I knew I could anchor in on with the chaos of my mind. It was working, slowly but surely it was working and I was feeling more content about it. He had that affect on me, to calm me in my storms. I knew I did the same for them, we did it to each other now as we sat there in the moonlight at the prison.

Sometimes, you just have to grieve.

* * *

"You don't need the rest of the squad for something like this?" I asked Waller now as she was giving me the new mission information there on her desk. She shook her head as I looked at the information in front of me and she was sitting there with her hands folded in front of her.

"It's a quick mission that I think you can handle without the others with you, plus I need it to be quick," She explained as I looked at the papers and I said nothing, drinking it all in now as I was showing a look of confusion now since it was not like her to send me without the others. It felt a bit off, almost like there was something being it. But knowing Waller, I was not going to question it.

"We need a rescue mission for a particular scientist that the Pentagon has been trying to reach, but he was kidnapped and is being held ransom. I figure I would send you alone because you would make it quiet and quick. If I send the whole group, we would be discovered." She explained as I looked at the picture of the captured scientist and how he looked disheveled already. The look on his face seemed like he was out of it in his own mind, which could be interesting to work with on this mission.

"I'll send Flag in with you and two others to help if you need in," Waller explained some more as I looked back at her, seeing the same serious look on her face as she would have before when she would explain a mission to us in the past.

"You sure you wanna send me?" I asked her unconvinced, seeing her lean forward a bit in her chair and nod her head slowly at me.

"I feel like you can handle something like this on your own, away from the others. Don't you think?" She asked me, having me think to myself on how she worded that. She believed in me after all, at least that's how she worded it and made it sound to me when she said that. But for me to go on my own, without Deadshot or Boomerang? Even Chato? It didn't feel right, even the pit of my stomach churned a bit. However, I saw the look on Waller's face, having me realize that I really was stuck in a pickle.

I had no real choice in the matter.


	24. Chapter 24

The first thing I noticed about the place we landed in from the chopper, was the quietness of the area. It was another part of Germany, another facility that we found the clue for of a scientist that was kidnapped and taken out of his own facility. I was there with Flag and some of his men, the others were left behind back at the prison, it wasn't feeling the same without them there with me. For such a simple mission, it felt like something could go terribly wrong.

I walked along the hallway there at the facility, the others in front of me and we were trying to find the scientist. We got word that he was held up there for the past few days and there was a ransom out for him, others were wanting him to work for them for some odd reason. He was an expert in genetics and he had a good knack for trying to find the genetic mutation with Metahumans. Some thought he was on the brink, and others thought he was downright insane.

Either way, people wanted him.

"Nothing here on the fist floor," Flag said to me as were walking slowly there, hearing nothing and having me look left and right now to see if there was any kind of sign that someone was here. But it looked too clean for someone to be held up in someplace like that.

So where was he?

"Sir, there are a few floors underground, the stairway is over to the east side of the building." One of his men said to Flag as I looked over at him, seeing him nod his head in my direction. I followed suit, keeping my eyes and ears open now as they found the stairwell that was leading down from one of the lobbies there on that floor. Flag went first, going down until he saw a door there at the bottom and he tried to open it. It was locked.

"Rose," he started, having me walk over past the others that were there at the stairwell and I made my whole left leg go into a diamond form as I walked.

"Let me," I said to him as I reared my leg up, kicking the door hard and seeing fall to the floor with some of the wood splinters flying int he air and the sound was booming around the area. Once the door was own, the other soldiers were moving in front of me with their guns out and they were scanning the area. I walked in with Flag, the both of us walking slowly as we noticed that we were in a large white hallway now, almost looking like it was part of some kind of quarantine zone with pure white walls and ceilings. We were about to find out what kind of place this was.

"You stay behind me, Talbert," Flag said to me as we turned a corner as we both stopped from what we were seeing. It was a bigger room, almost the size of one of the quads back at the prison. It was vast and huge, and two set of cells on each side, Instead of there ebbing bars were, there was glass all the way up and down from the floor to the ceiling. There was an island counter in the middle wit plenty of pages and files there along the top of the island for me to go over and investigate as the others were searching within every cell there now, seeing nothing after nothing. I looked at the files there on the counter there to see if I was going to get some kind of hint there.

They were medical files, having me see pictures on each of those files of what looked like to be normal people there. But something on the files was off, it was handwriting there and on some of them, it was saying that they weren't responding to the medicine that was given to them. What…medicine? What kind of medicine were they giving them? What was this place?

"Flag, come see this," I said to him cautiously now as I was looking at one of the files there in my hands, seeing that it said that the person was in their mid-20's moderately healthy and they were from Connecticut…..something about him and his family….and then it hit me. It had, in red writing, the term TERMINATED there.

He was a metahuman.

"No one's in here, sir," One of the men said to Flag now as I flipped to another file. It was a woman, a bit older and was a teacher in Washington. It was the same thing, the red word TERMINATED and she too was a metahuman.

I flipped to another one: 15-year-old male from North Dakota, TERMINATED metahuman. Another file: Security Officer from Florida, TERMINATED metahuman.

Oh god…oh god.

"Sir, there's another room back here that is closed off," One of the soldiers said as I was moving away from the island now, about to have a pincer teak because some of it was piece together, this mysteries that I thought were not going to be solved anytime soon. But now it was akin sense and it was having me resale that I was in more hot water now than ever, even working for Waller and thinking that she as going to protect me

"Flag…" I said in a warning sound now as the others were walking over to where the first one went to, a door towards the back of the room now and they were about to hit the door open, in which I stayed behind thinking that this was going to be some kind of bad place for us to be in. We had to get out of here, and we had to get out now.

But a bomb went off.

Everyone went flying into the air and hit the ground hard, I fell too from the shake of the explosion and I was covering my head in hopes that nothing pierced me or shoot out at me. It made me think that this was some kind of set up as I looked over, seeing the damage in the room and some of the men trying to get up and get alerted again. I walked over to Flag, seeing him trying to get a huge chunk of concrete off his leg and I was about o help him when a loud screech was heard. Something hit me and had me fly back fast to hit one of the glass cell doors in a jolt and fall. I cried out in pain, feeling it up and down my back now as I looked up to see something standing over me, another one of those human beings that were used to fight us in the past.

No, it was a metahuman. They were turning them into monsters.

He grabbed my jacket and there me up against the glass door again as more of those beings came rushing out to fight the soldiers. The soldiers were fighting back with their fists and their guns as the none who had me pinned made me hit the wall hard once more and I yelped in pain, hearing and feeling the glass shift and crack from my head hitting it. This being was a strong one as he growled at me, having em finally throw my hands on his wrist and move my leg up to kick him off of me. He released me as he fell back, landing on my feet again as I ran over to him and grabbed his jacket to launch him over the island counter.

I looked over to Flag and the men, seeing them shoot out another couple of those beings and I ran over to help, fighting some of off of me but mostly off the men in case they were in trouble. It was a dueling match from time to time, and they were a bit stronger than me in some cases. Whatever they were doing to them, they were giving them some kind of better strength. Even for me, it was a wrestle to get them off of me at least.

I went flying onto the sailed counter, the files were spreading everywhere and falling to the floor as one of the beings was slamming his fist down to hit me hard in the head. I rolled out of the way just in time, hearing the counter shatter now under his fists and I gulped, seeing that they were higher up in their stamina that before. This could be challenging as I looked over at him now as he ran over to me. Dodging to the side, I grabbed his arm and threw him to the ground hard, hearing something pop there and he went limp, showing that he was down.

"We need to get out of here, now!" One of the soldiers said as he was shooting down a being quickly before he was touched.

"No, we still need to find the professor!" Flag counted back, having me jog over to the room that was blown up.

"I'll find him, you guys get these things out of the way!" I explained to him as I moved through the rubble there and looked around. It was still smoky, almost hard enough for me to breathe it in as I tried to move around the damage from the bomb. Some of the wall there was gone on the left, but it was going in darker and darker now as I was trying to see there in the smoky room, but I stopped when something tapped my foot as I was about to walk in. I looked down, seeing something there that seems like the size of a brick there on the ground, having me church down and pull out my phone there to have a flashlight. Once I turned it on and I was balancing myself on the rubble there beneath my feet, I saw what it was and I felt another sick feeling in my stomach,

Another bomb, great.

"Flag, get the men out of here and out of the building now," I said in my earpiece, taking a picture there on my phone and placing it back in my pocket as I was still watching the bomb in case he was about to go off.

"What did you find?" Flag asked me

"Another bomb in here, I don't know what it does, but I don't wanna wait around and find out," I said to him now as I could hear other things happening in the background of his comm, "What's going on out there?"

"We're calling a chopper to get us out of here. Talbert, this was some kind of set up and we're gonna find what we were looking for. We're leaving," He said to me now as I was looking over my shoulder and I saw the opening back into the main room that I was in with them. A trap? How could it be a trap when we were sent here. Who was behind all of this? I was more confused than ever now as I heard three beeps from the bomb in front of me.

Oh shit.

Something hit me hard like a ton of brick, some kind of fume that literally knocked me off my feet and against the wall there in the corner, the fumes that I was breathing in was making me go dizzy and almost see things in a haze. This was a drugged bomb, whoever placed this here was trying to knock me out cold from the fumes in the air. And it was working since I was feeling my head and my eyes were getting heavier and heavier now as I tried to stay awake. The last thing that I remember seeing was a shadow over me, the head tilted to the side now as if whoever it was becalmed fascinated with me.

"You'll do. Oh yes, you'll do."

I blacked out.

* * *

Diablo's POV

Something ain't right. From the moment that she walked away with Flag and his guys over to the chopper, I knew something was going to go wrong. I had that instinct, something inside of my head telling me that this was a bad idea from the moment she told me what Waller sent her to do. One her own, without the rest of the squad? What was Waller thinking? It made me pace around my cell now, thinking about when she was going to come back and that she was going to be okay.

She had to be okay, I know she had to.

She knew how to fight, at least she knew how to take care of herself when it came to a fight. It was my one job to make sure that she was okay, at least in my mind it was. But she would fight me on that, me wanting to protect her and Rose hatin' that about me. Not hatin', just annoyed. If only she knew how much it meant for me not to lose her, how much it did hurt me losing someone before that was close to me. I didn't want that again, not with her.

This is what I get for falling for someone like her, for agreeing to go out with the suicide squad and meeting her. Would we have met each other and done this if it wasn't for the suicide squad? If it was something else, would it have been possible? Doubtful, it sounds crazy in the head. It was even crazy enough to think that I would find somebody else int his life since I didn't feel good enough for anyone in the first place.

I thought of myself as a monster.

Rose never saw me as that, she saw me in a different way, way different that what I thought she would see. She saw me as….as a person. An actual person who didn't deserved what happened to me. There was no way in Hell that I deserved to have someone like her in my life, and I thought of my old lady not deserving me either. Rose was way too good for me, she could be with anyone else,

But she wanted me.

Goddamnit, where was she? I need to light something on fire just to blow off the steam when I heard footsteps coming down my way now, having me stop my pacing and look over with my arms crossed in front of me and my eyes on the walkway. I was thinkin' that it was her, wanting to rush over to the cell just to see her face and know that she was okay, but it wasn't her. It was Flag and his men, only something wasn't feelin' the same as before.

Where was Rose?

Flag looked over at me now, his face lookin' low and almost like he was about to give me some kind of tragic news. I stared at him, my own blood going cold and I was standing so still and almost to have anger come over me. This was a trick, this was just a trick in the head again, this was not the nightmare that I knew would happen.

"Where's Rose?" I asked him carefully now, keeping my voice down and he was watchin' me now with that look of defeat he had on his face. I then know that something went south, It was making me now have the anger simmer there under my fingertips and below my feet, having em want to know the answers and know them now.

"Flag, where is she?" I asked him now in a growl as he walked over to me now on the other side of the cell and I was feeling the anger get a bit bigger and bigger now. He was about to give me some news that I didn't want to hear, I knew it on his face. Bastard. He then spoke up finally, sounding depressed about it.

"She was taken, Diablo,"

It was a blow to the gut, having me hold it together so much to the point of having to clutch the cell bars in front of me. It was taking so much in me to not torch the whole place down in the news of Rose being taken. How could they do that to her, let her go like that? They were about to ask for a death wish with me. I squeezed the bars so hard and closed my eyes, trying not to let it out and have another episode. But she was gone, without me knowing where she was and it was now killing me from the inside and out, just like before.

"Diablo…" I looked up at Flag now, seeing hi no longer look like he was about to be sick, but now looked determined about somethin' in that jughead of his.

"We're gonna find her."

* * *

Rose's POV

"Seems as though she was the one you wanted, sir."

"Took awhile and some creative work, but yes. We did get her. I didn't think that bomb you made was going to work, Doctor."

I was coming out of what was hitting me hard, the fogginess was still there but it was enough for me not to realize where I was at first. I couldn't move my arms or my legs, something was holding me down there against some kind of chair and I was feeling the after effects of the drug that was in me. What happened? I could remember very faintly what happened to me and where I was….that it was a trap.

But where was I know?

"Oh, she's waking up," I blinked a few times at the bright lights high above me, almost like I was on the operation chair. Was I? I was facing up, my body flat out in front of me and strapped down tight, hard for me to move as I was still disoriented and trying to get my brain back in check as someone was walking over to me now slowly and with a look of discomfort. I was getting worried, and I panicked since I realized who it was in front of me.

The kidnapped doctor? What the hell?

"Glad to see that the drugs didn't completely kill you, I didn't know how much to give you in that bomb since I knew you were going to try and find me," the doctor explained to me now as if he was talking to any other patient, though I stay still and tried to drink in all the surrounding that was near me. I was somewhere that looked very unfamiliar, dark and sinister at the same time and pristine. There were charts there, all over the place on the walls and some of them had scribbles along the top, the writing looking angry.

"Sorry to lead you into my trap, or at least the part of the trap that was my idea. But you see, I needed someone of your stamina and…beautiful ability to work on and I have no other way than you bring you here," He explained calmly as he looked over my own body there, almost expecting something else there as I was moving my ankles and wrists there, feeling that it wasn't leather that was holding me down, but some kind of metal for me to try and break.

"Not to worry, this metal is indestructible for even someone like yourself to get out of, at least, for now," He said as he saw me moving around try got get out. I could feel the panic coming over me, having me watch him with a lump in my own throat now as he was giving me some kind of creepy smile.

"Who are you?" I asked him calmly, though I wanted to yell it at him.

"Just another scientist in the world that is more curious about met humans," he answered smoothly, his proper tone was adding tot he creep factor, "Luckily, I had an investor who was also interested."

"Who?" I asked slowly now.

"Me," I looked back the scientist now, seeing someone walking over to me in a business suit and what looked like to be a bald head. He looked tall and almost a sense of sophisticating, and also a small hint of madness there as I knew who it was and it made my blood freeze there from seeing him walk over to me now with a cane in hand.

"Out of all of the metahumans that I have caught, you happen to be the very one I think I can use," He explained in a deep and booming tone of a voice now as he was close enough for me to see the details of his suit and how his face looked a bit mechanical, not human. I felt like this was not going to look light for me, this might be the real moment that I was going to die. At the hands of a madman, and the mind of the billionaire who hated the Man of Steel more than anything.

"She' s ready for the used dosage, Mr. Luthor."


	25. Chapter 25

Diablo's POV

"We know where she is?"

"I'm looking at the picture that she sent me before the bomb went off."

"Look faster, Flag. I don't think we can keep Diablo pacing around any more of else he'll burn a hole in the meeting room."

I could hear them talkin' about me as I was pacing back and forth in the meeting room, the rest of the squad including that Katana chuck was there looking over a plan to get Rose back from whoever took her. I was trying to just remain calm or else I would blow the whole room up. God, why did it have to be her? She already went through enough as it was, she didn't need this. It was making me angry, beyond angry that someone would take her, for what? I looked over at the others as Flag took out his phone and looked at the picture there.

"It's a makeshift bomb, gave off a big explosion from what I remember," Flag explained as he looked that bomb there on the camera, "I see a serial number. We can run that through and see where it came from. Katana?"

Katana nodded, taking the phone from him and walking away now, out of the room at a brisk pace as the others looked back at Flag.

"It was a trap just for her, right?" Deadshot asked him, Flag nodding his head, "So why go through the whole trouble with you and the guys just to get to her."

"Whoever took her wanted her alone, away from you guys I'm guessin'." Flag answered him back, "And since she's not a prisoner here, she was the best bet to go do it alone."

"We would go in if itt was a bloody suicidal mission," Boomerang said in agreement.

"How do we get her?" Croc asked now from his spot near the wall now as he was leaning against it.

"We're gonna formulate a plan, without Waller knowing," Everyone looked over at him now as he said that, something that would never come out of his mouth. He worked for the lady, followed her orders like an obedient soldier, but now he was going to what….say no to her?

"She doesn't know Rose is gone?" I asked him them, stopping my pacing there and facing him now to hear him out as he watched me carefully.

"Not yet, but we get to Rose first, then I think we'll be more out of her Waller's than before. She's back at the pentagon, dealing with the Metahuman disappearances since the officals are breathing down her neck. I'll let Waller know about the mishap…when she gets back," Flag explained to me without hesitance. He was sure that this was going to work without our main commander, which made me look at him in a new light now as Katana jogged back into the room, holding out the phone in front of her now with a surprised look on her face.

"You found the serial number?" He asked her, but before she could answer her, another voice was heard on the speaker there in her hands, a voice we haven't heard in months at least.

"I found it! Hello, my pretties!"

"Harley?" Deadshot asked as I walked over and the rest of the group surrounded the phone now in earnest to hear our old teammate and friend's voice.

"It's me! I miss you all so much!" She said in glee now, a small smile on my lips from hearing her voice and hearing that she as okay.

"Where have I heard that before," Deadshot said in a chuckle now as Flag spoke up.

"What's going on Harley? Why are you callin' my phone?" he asked in shocked now.

"What, can't a lady call her handsome friend up and see how's life goin'?" Harley asked, obviously peeved.

"No," Flag said in a short answer.

"Aww, that hurts Flag. Anyway, word got around about that psycho scientist that you guys were findin', did my research and found out that the guy was hired by the one and only Lex Luthor," Harley explained as we all looked at each other in confusion.

"Lex Luthor? As in the billionaire?" Deadshot asked now.

"Ain't he bald?" Boomerang asked too.

"Yes and yes. He's the scumbag that's behind the metahumans being lifted off the streets….including our little Rosie," I felt a twinge of hate there for the guys already, sharing about him on the news and how he was both rich and a jerk to Superman. It kind of made sense.

"What does he want with her?" I asked her now, thinking that she had some kind of idea about it, she was smart after all.

"Hello, flame boy, fancy hearin' you! I don't know myself, sweetie, but I know for a fact that I'm game for gettin' your girl back," She said, all of us looking at each other. It felt like the first mission again, all of us working together. But this was had nothing to dow with Waller, so it felt rogue and a bit on the raw side.

"How are we gonna do it?" Boomerang asked now as we were all thinking to ourselves.

"Actually, I have someone who can help."

* * *

Rose's POV

"Another needle. Well, looks like we can't even inject you with the proper dosage, such a shame." The apparent Doctor there placed the bent needle back on the tray there next to me as I was struggle one again against the hard enough to even just get some kind of freed out of that chair. But it was no use now as the doctor then walked over to some more of his instruments there, thinking of what to use on me next.

Since apparently, he has not been successful.

My skin was saving me, in a way. For one, my diamond form underneath my human skin was not letting netting that they just to inject me go in. That was a savior kind of moment for me since they were trying anything and everything to me. So far, the luck was in my own favor now as they were trying everything to me at this point, and every once in awhile I would try to think of a way to just get out there in one piece. It got to the point where they strapped me down good and tight now, now way to get me out.

"I'm thinking that you're not doing your job, doctor," Lex Luthor said in an almost dramatic tone as he was standing a bit away near the door, watching with hawk eyes and seeing the failure that was going on there. I could see it on his face: He was not too pleased.

"If you would like to do the honors when she has impenetrable skin, be my guest sir," The doctor said in a huff now as Luthor walked over in my director looking at me in interest now as I was eyeing him more in disgust in the whole thing of being here under some kind of microscope for him to probe and pick at. He was crazier than I thought, and I knew that there was a very slim timeframe for me to be alive now as I found my voice to talk to him.

"What do you want to get out of this?" I asked him almost bitterly now, seeing him now look at directly in the eyes. I could see the wheel turning in his eyes, though it was more sinister than anything, and it worried me that I had no idea what he was capable of.

"Let's just say that I have a keen interest in those who are…special. Superman was one of my keen interests, but finding out there are more like you in the world….why not learn more….invest more…maybe even get something out of it," He replied as he crossed his arms in front of him and had a small smile on his, almost giving me a shiver, "I'm under the belief that if one person has a certain something given to them than it can be taken away."

"You're taking my ability from me?" I asked him slowly, thinking that it was pure madness and almost suicidal from the thought of it as he had a smug look on his face.

"Well when you put it that way, sure," he said in a calm manner as he thought to himself about it and breathed out deeply, "You see, science is such a funny thing. You can do plenty with it these days, and I thought that I could do the same too. get the right people working for me, find the right subjects, and see what I can cook up."

"You were the one behind the disappearances," I stated, seeing it all click in my head.

"Of course, but I wasn't going to taint my own name and drag it through the mud..not after the plenty of times Superman did it to me. No, I would let the news and the people thing for themselves and cook up their now theories, and I would sit back and watch the magic happened," He moved away from me then and be rubbed his temple with his forefingers and a heavy sigh, "Unfortunately, none of our subjects have had a successful outcome with the experiments that my doctors has tried."

"You killed them," I said with a gasp.

"No, I tried to evolve them. But they were more of a setback than a step forward," He countered back, "Until I saw you. I had some pope looking up and around for any metahumans and we came around to your name on the file. It read, and I quote, 'unique ability to transform body in the form of a diamond'." Luther said to me in a charismatic manner, "Now that was something that I really wanted to get into more, to get closer to." His hand was on my arm there, and I wished with all my might that I was able to squirm and get it out of the way and never have him touch me again.

"After seeing you handle one of my henchman outside your apartment some time ago, I knew that we were in need of you and your….spectacular ability," He said with a sigh of joy there as he watched me there like a predator about to devour his prey, "But apparently you're putting up more of a fight than I wanted and expected." He walked away for me now, his back to me and he was thinking to himself now, "What to do with you…what to do."

"Sir, we still have the machine. None of the others have been able to be qualified for it and we can test it on her," I looked at the doctor there at his tools, not understanding what he was talking about now as Luther looked at him now in intrigue and in wonder. What was he thinking about? I only got a small glimpse into his mind and in how he was thinking, I wasn't a fan. He then looked over at me now, a thought was there in his eyes that looked like a deep and meaningful thought.

"Let's put it on the higher level. Knock her out before you put her in."

The doctor walked up behind me, placing something over my mouth and then everything went black again.

* * *

When I woke up again, I was on the floor in some kind of room.

It was tinted blue in there, as small as my old cell back in the prison. There were square cubes like things there along the walls and a marble ground beneath me. I looked down and around, seeing there was no real sign of a visible door or windows. What that hell? Why was it so cold in here, and the lights were dark and yet neon at the same time. This was insane, downright insane, and I knew that this was how they were going to kill me here and there.

So how were they going to do it?

The only window in the whole area was a small circle window that looked like a porthole out on my right side, having me scramble to get up and run over and see the room I was in before right there within my grasp, but there was no way out for me. I banged on the door, seeing both the doctor and Luther talking to each other and almost having an argument now as I felt like I was about to cry there, placing my hand there on the glass as Luther slapped the doctor to have him fall to the floor.

I didn't want to die like this, I thought it would be different how I died. But this, this was not the way I wanted to go and leave this earth. Up till this point, I was building my own life back, but now they were going take it away from me. I threw out my hand there in a diamond form, thinking that I could smash the gas thoroughly and get some kind of escape there going. Suddenly, before I could get my third hit into the glass and make the crack bigger, something trigger and made me scream out in pain.

The machine was turned on.

Something inside of it was making my brain feel like it was about to explode and burst, having my scared out in agony and shock from the intense pain there in my head. I fell to the floor, holding my head in my hands and trying to drown out the pain in my yells and screaming. But it wasn't working, the pain was getting worse and worse now as something in the machine was slowly killing me without touching me. I was curling up in a ball for the amount of pain I was feeling that it was making me shake all over from what it was doing to me.

I started to think, starting to think and wonder why I didn't say goodbye when I could, feeling my head feeling more and more intense and on the verge of being a bomb and about to kill me. My mother, god I wanted her here and now to save me from this. The Squad back at the prison, I wanted to tell them for just accepting me was enough for me to keep waking up every day. They were a new kind of family to me. And of course, Chato.

I wanted to tell him I loved him.

I did love him, no matter his tattoos or his tragedy of his past. No matter how broken he thought he was and or how far away from being good again. He was good in my heart, he was good and he deserved a long happy life from all he went through. I knew he had a great heart, a heart that was meant to love people in different ways from others. it felt at times that he too loved me, though I would never know now if he did.

God, I wished I did.

The pain was too much now, having me no longer scream but silently sob out the pain and the agony that this machine was doing to me, and I wondered when it would end. It would better end with a bullet than this, a slower death at that was beyond painful. I closed my eyes, already wishing that someone would kill me and get it over with. It felt like something was shifting inside of me, wanting to get out and be exposed. Was my ability? Was that this machine was trying to do now? It almost felt like my human skin wanted to come off and the ability wanted to be taking by this Luthor guy. He was trying to make it happen.

And it felt like it was working.

Something loud exploded outside the cube, having the whole cube flicker a bit and lose some of its power. The pain here in my head and the shifting of my power was lessened now because of it, having me get enough strength to get up from the ground and stagger over to the window now. The pain was still there in my brain, but it was dulled down from whatever was happening outside of it. I looked through, clutching the window edge now to just standing up and I saw an explosion. It was big and it was loud, both the scientist and Luthor dived out of the way as the place was shifting and almost shaking there from the rubble busting through and the wall literally collapsing.

It all happened so quickly now as I heard Luthor screaming into his phone and the scientist was staying a bit close to the control panel now as I was banging my hand against the window, not being able to have enough of my own energy to change it to a diamond form to break the glass. The pain was numbing me and having me almost fall to the floor now. But I held on tightly to see who it was that made the explosion happen now as some people were running through the rubble now, the people I never thought I would see again.

My Suicide Squad


	26. Chapter 26

The first one I saw was Boomerang, whom ran through and threw out his weapon at the doctor who was about to throw out a gun to shoot him down, but the other person that I saw right behind him was someone whom I never thought I would see again.

Harley.

There she was, twirling her bat like a baton as some other soldiers from Luthor came running around the corner to fight them off. She swung at hm, sending him flying in the air as Croc came up behind her and grabbed two of those soldiers with ease. Deadshot came barreling through with Katana right behind him and they were fending them off as well and doing it as if it was the easiest thing in the world.

I wanted to smile and to yell at them, but then another spike from the machine had me collapse down to the ground now and I lost my sense of self there, almost on the brink of being completely wiped out and dead. It was so close, going on the thin line between life and the afterlife as then the machine was suddenly turned off.

The pain was gone.

The machine was now silent as I could hear the fight outside the thick walls, explosions and gunfire were filling my ears that were also pumping like my heart, making everything sound so loud.

"Where is she? You're gonna talk, WHERE IS SHE?!"

I could hear screaming, maybe from the doctor himself now. I gasped out in both relief and in heaviness as the door finally was opened, someone was opening it from the outside and I was still on the floor, seeing the opposite wall and the light shining in from the door there. There was a silhouette there in the light, the stance was stiff and I could almost feel the last wave of energy in me as someone was touching my back, warm soothing hands.

I knew those hands.

"Rose, _Dios Mío_. Can you hear me? I got you, can you hear me, Rose?"

He sounded desperate and urgent. He turned me over to lay me on my back and on his lap, looking down at me in worry now as I saw him above me. Chato, his face knitted in fear that he lost me, again. I tried to breathe, but it felt so hard now as he wrapped one arm around my waist and his other hand to touch my face there to see if I was still there with him there in that room. I sighed in content, seeing his face and wishing I had enough energy to reach up to caress his face, to show that I was okay.

"Hey you," I gasped out in relief, a small grin there on my face from seeing him as he leaned down and kissed me sweetly there in relief and in content. I held it there for a brief moment before squinting, the pain was almost simmering there on the top of my brain as Chato looked away and at me in worry.

"What did they do to you?" He asked, having me hear more gunfire outside the cube and soldiers screaming out.

"He tried…tried to take my ability," I said to him in a squint now as Chato looked at me in confusion.

"How can he do that?" He asked me, my head resting against his chest now as I could hear his rapid heart beating.

"I don't…I don't know….Chato…it hurts," I admitted to him now as more gunfire was heard. It was hard to concentrate when the machine's effects were still hitting me all over my body and under my skin.

"Come on, I'll get you out of here," He wrapped his other arm underneath my legs and hoisted me up bridal style there in his arms. I was still feeling out of it, beyond unless there from the machine which was its purpose after all. He kept me close to him, standing up now with me in his arms as one of the soldiers now poked his head into the room and aimed his gun right at the both of us. In that moment I wished that I had enough energy to fend him off from Chato and me.

"NO!" I said in a scream, throwing out my hand at the gunman as something shot out from the palm of my hand, the diamond shards that I was capable of were back, even with the small amount of energy that I had. They slammed into him, hitting him all over and he screamed out and fell to the floor. He was dead, and it happened within seconds. I looked down at my hand there, Chato rearranging his hold on me as I was looking to see how that was possible. When I was so close to being dead, how could something like that happen? I looked over at Chato, seeing him look at the whole thing in front of me as he finally looked back down at me. He had something on his mind, I could tell

"I wanted to tell you…before Waller sent you off…" He trailed off, not finding the right words in that moment. I moved a bit in his arms, seeing him place me down on the ground finally and I stood there. Even though my legs were a bit wobbly from the experiment, But I was still able to stand there as I reached over to frame his face within my own wobbly fingers. I leaned up and pressed my lips there, feeling him kiss me back immediately and wrap his arms around me as my own went around his neck. I didn't care that we were in the middle of a fight and a rescue mission for me, or the fact that I was almost dead from a mad scientist and an even madder billionaire.

I was focusing on the boy in front of me, and how much I loved him.

He pulled away from me, a gasp there on both of our lips since that kiss almost felt too tender and desperate from the ones that we shared in the past. I stayed close to him, almost a breath away now as I took in another breath now.

"I love you," I whispered to him, seeing him looked floored from what I told him. I never told a single person besides my mother that, and it felt scary to tell him. Scary but good and honest. He broke out into a small smile, shaking his head back and forth as he kept his hold on me still.

"You're not…you're not supposed to say that," He said in almost stutter now but the smile did not leave his face.

"Why not?" I asked, not understanding why he would say something like that.

"Because I love you," He replied in a factorial manner, "I'm supposed to say that first, you know. I had it planned and everything."

"I'm sure you did," I said with a chuckle as we were both grinning at each other like a couple of idiots in love. We might have been idiots in love, but we didn't care. We love each other, that's all that I needed in this world.

"After you two are makin' out, it would be nice to get some help around here!" Harley yelled in our direction now, fending off another soldier there. I could see where this was not the best time for Chato and me to have this conservation, and he saw the same thing as well. We pulled away from each other, having me looked ahead at the fight in front of me, thinking that I should be able to help in any way that I could.

"Come on," Chato said to me calmly now as we were walking out of the cube, finally. The room was a bit bright, things flaring off back and forth and the members of our squad were holding their ground. I ran over to the control panel that was holding me in the cube as Chato went off to get more soldiers out of the way. I looked at the panels, only seeing a bunch of numbers and what looked like my vitals there, but I didn't know how to read them.

Someone was coughing next to me, having me look down to see the scientist there. Half of his body was burned, charcoal skin along the right side and he looked like he was on the brink of death. I leaned down to get close to him, almost smelling the burning flesh he had on him thanks to Chato.

"What did you do to me?" I asked him, seeing him watch me with worried and fearful eyes. He said nothing, having me grab his charcoaled arm and he screamed out in pain now as my hand was going into the diamond form, making it hurt worse now as a soldier went flying past me in the sky and hitting the wall above me.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?!" I yelled at him, now wanting to know what kind of machine it was and how it affected me if it did affect. The scientist looked at me square in the eyes now, fear etched on his face as he found his voice.

"Mr. Luthor wanted a machine that would not only take away someone's ability, but the side effects were also part of the plan," He said in a gasp now as I looked at him in shock, not believing what I was hearing now as the last soldier fell to the ground and the others were watching me interact with him. I released him, seeing him slump to the ground now as I moved away from him. Side effects, what kind of side effects was he talking about? I looked away from him and tried to breathe in and out from having a panic attack. They did something else to me, from what I was hearing from him.

"What side effects, doctor?" Flag asked him in a low register now as Chato walked over to me to check up on me, a hand on my back now as I could hear the doctor quivering and stammering.

"I'm…uhh…I cannot say…" He trailed off, having em hear a grunt from him as I whirled around. Croc stepped on his charcoal side, pinning him down as he spoke again and Harley walked over to the panel now to see for herself.

"Speak up," Croc growled at him. Chao staying close to me now as Harley looked grave there at the panel. She knew how to read it, not I, and I was now looking at her to see what she was going to tell me. She slowly looked over at me now, her face looking less of herself and more like she was about to give me bad news.

"The stuff they placed in that cell, it's meant to stop….stop fertility."

Everything was shifting again as I heard that, no one said a word and made a move as I was drinking that in. Was he making me…infertile? What for? Why did he do that to me? It was making me feel so raw all over again and beyond angry. I never had the real thought of having kids in the future, thanks to my father and what he did to me to change that state of mind. But still, it was something that no one should rob another person from, it was a natural opportunity and gift to have. But this Luthor guy, he took that from me like he was robbing a bank: without a second thought or remorse. I felt Chato placed both of his hands on me, to give me some kind of anchor since he could see the pain there on my face.

"Jesus. Christ," Deadshot said in an angry tone as he cocked his gun and pointed it right at the doctor's head, "Where's Luthor now."

"I don't know." he instantly stammered, having me move away from Chato now and I walked over to the broken Doctor, hoisting him in the air with my one arm. He slammed into the wall and yelled in pain as I pointed my other diamond formed finger right at his throat.

"Tell me where he is right now or I'll slice you open," I warned him, seeing him eye me in fear now as he was still keeping quiet and the others walked over to stand behind me as leverage and as a support system.

"You best answer her, mate," Boomerang advised him.

"Fine! Fine, fine. He went to his bunker, near the top of the roof," he explained, looking at me with his pleading eyes now in hopes that I was going to give him mercy. Why should I give him mercy? He made the machine and did this to me, robbed me of something that I could never have in the future. I dropped him there to the floor, looked over at Flag now and he gave me a returned cold stare.

"I'll call it into Waller, we'll get him arrested," He said to me, but I shook my head.

"I wanna kill him," I said to him in a cold way, seeing him shake his head at me.

"We can't do that, Rose," he said to me as I pointed to the doctor now with my diamond hand.

"They were about to murder me in there and he robbed me! I want to murder that bastard," it was filling me, all that that in my belly and the urge to just become something so cold and with no heart. I wanted it so bad as Deadshot looked over at me now, having a calm look on his face.

"Rose, that ain't you," He reminded me, having me look over at him now as he went on, "You're not a killer. Don't go down that road, Rose. Trust me." He was trying to save me from being a villain, being someone like them there in the room. He knew that what I wanted to dow as going to being over some serious consequences. It was like hey said to me before, back on previous missions: I was the good one in this group. Not one of them.

"We'll get him and bring him here. Croc, go catch the guy," Flag said to Croc now, who nodded his head in unison and Katana followed suit as Flag grabbed his phone and started dialing for someone on our side to snag him. They didn't want me to do the dirty work as it was, and I was left there to sink in that thought of this sick billionaire and him getting his jollies from people like us, people like me.

"He's doing this to all the metahumans," I said in a low manner, thinking about it and placing it all in my head, "The ones that didn't work out too well….they turned into those monsters that we fought in the past. It was all from him,"

"Bastard," Harley said in a growl, "Why would he do somethin' like that, though?"

"Don't know, but I wanna ask him myself," Chato said in a lower tone now next to me as I looked over at him, watching him lace our fingers together and I sighed in discontent. I just went through a beating, both with my body and within my own mind and sanity. A part of me wanted to just be dead here from what he did to me, but another part of me was glad that they rescued me and got me out of there. It showed, once again, that this was my family and that I belonged here with them.

Harley's phone went off, having me look at it for a second or two now as I saw her smirk, looking at the rest of us, "Our little friend Luthor was picked up, by Mr. J himself."

"I don't think that was part of the plan, Harley," Deadshot advised her now, but she grinned and based him away with her fingers.

"Mr. J isn't gonna hurt them. He'll take them to the cops for sure, his part of the deal was to get us in here without being detected," She explained to him now.

"He helped you get here?" I asked her in a small shock.

"Yeah he did, he wanted to help I guess," Chato replied to me in an answer under this breath. I wanted to ask him why, but it was stuck in my throat now as I could hear the chop coming in, showing the end of this new battle that I just went through. I leaned against Chato now, feeling him press a kiss in my hair as I was just trying to breathe again now, breathe from what I could think was the worst night of my life.


	27. Chapter 27

I was curled up in a ball, underneath what seemed to be a plastic bubble now as they were doing a reading on me. It felt like I was stuck there under a microscope, no way of getting out or seeing the others since they were running their diagnostics on me. But they said it was vital, and after I was brought in, they wanted to make sure that I was clean enough with my system. It didn't feel like it, it felt like I was losing my mind there in the medical bed, the bubble around me and the clean fumes they were pumping there.

I was still thinking about what he did to me.

"The medication and vitals that they gave her are indications of infertility," The doctor there explained to both Flag and Waller while they were in my room, but I turned my back on them and looked out the window. I could still hear them through the plastic barrier, which was bothering me because it made me feel like I was in quarantine and I had some for of cancer. But they wanted to make sure that I was okay with whatever that Scientist and Luthor were doing to me.

They wanted to make sure I was going to live.

Luthor was on the hunt for metahumans and trying to find the perfect one for him to snag their ability. It was a morbid, never done before by anyone else in the world, and he wanted to be the first. He thought he was going to play God, but what he got was zombie-like beings and they were wrecking havoc wherever they went.

He was purely mad.

"We need to keep her in here for a couple more days until we can really know if those fumes and medication in her are flushed out and no longer going to be a harm to her or others," The doctor explained to her.

"What about her condition that Luthor gave her," Waller asked her, having me hear that she wasn't going to use the term that I thought she would, maybe she knew that I was listening but not watching.

"As far as we know, it could be permanent. But things could change later on when she is fully healed. We have to wait in time, but as I said before, it doesn't look good for her at this point." The doctor explained to her now as I closed my eyes and felt more tears coming out of my face. It was too much for me, another raw punch to the chest. How much more of this kind of life could I take when I just wanted to have something simple, something that I can really hold onto and not let go.

But it felt like it was slipping.

* * *

"Harley sends her regards," Deadshot was visiting me, being the first one up to have some visiting time with me. I was laying on the bed again, facing him and watching him through the thick plastics that they had over me and it was already starting to bother me. He was back in his prison clothes, hands cuffed in front of him now as he was sitting in one the steel chairs that they gave him, Flag over in the corner watching us.

"You talked to her?" I asked him now as I rearranged myself on the bed.

"She left a note for me before the cops came. She ran off with Joker," He explained, having me sink back a bit in my bed, already missing her, "She says she's gonna send you something to feel better."

"Should I be worried?" I asked, seeing him smirk a bit as he thought to himself.

"Doubtful. Then again, I don't know how she'll send it in here without being caught." He looked over at Flag now after he said that, Flag just smirked from his spot and shrugging his shoulders.

"I wouldn't be opposed," He agreed, I rose an eyebrow to him.

"Really?" I asked.

"Don't push it," He replied, Deadshot looking back at me now. He pointed with his cuffed hand the bubble I was in.

"You look like a lab rat in there," He stated, having me huff at him now as I pointed to the bubble with my finger and feeling it under my skin.

"I am a lab rat in here, they think I'm still infected from whatever Luthor gave me," I explained to him, rolling my eyes and seeing Deadshot smirk, "It's not really making me look good."

"At least you're alive," He mentioned, "And that Luthor guy's in jail."

"And the scientist is somewhere breathing out from a tube," I added to that statement, seeing a small smile his face as I thought about all that happened to me, "But still….what he did to me."

"He's an asshole," Deadshot said to me in confidence there, "For him to do something like that to anyone, in general, is downright shitty….not to mention to you."

"You make me sound special," I muttered to him.

"Well, with our motley crew, you're the special one. Don't forget: you're the good guy." I eyed him as he said that. It was kind of true: seeing the contrast between us. I wasn't in handcuffs anymore, nor was I in an orange jumpsuit and was in a cell. I would tend to forget that I didn't belong with them, and yet I did at the same time. They still stayed around for me, wanting to work along with me even though I was no villain and had no bad bone in my heart. They still accepted me, and for that, I was grateful for them.

"So, when were you gonna tell us about you and homeboy?" He asked me now, shifting in his car and changing the subject completely. I eyed him, seeing him give me a small wink as I groaned and hid my face in my hands.

* * *

"Got ya a little somethin'."

"You didn't have to, Boomerang,"

"I did, Shelia. You're a friend of mine and I want ya to feel better," He placed a bright blue plush unicorn there on the small nightstand outside the bubble, having me look at the little thing and then over to him now with a raised eyebrow. His two escorted guards here behind him, watching him move as he grinned at me.

"I have a pink one," He explained nonchalantly as I slowly nodded, "I thought you would like blue since you're not into pink a whole lot."

"That's….thoughtful," I said in hesitance now as he rolled his own eyes at me.

"It's something to make ya feel better. Mine does, when I feel down or sad, ya know?" He asked me, having me smile at him widely. Even though he was a wildcard and a bit of the crazy side, I knew he was a good friend too and someone I could lean on since he saved my ass a few times with those missions.

"Thank you, Boomerang," I thanked him, seeing him grin widely at me, "If they let me have it in here, I would take it in a heartbeat."

"Yeah about that, how do they let ya eat in here, let alone…you know.." He trailed off, having me chuckle at him as he thought about it to himself.

"They let me go in the bathroom, you know that right?" I asked him, seeing him nervously nod his head.

"Of course, I know that!"

* * *

The rain was softly pouring outside, having me curl up in my ball again and think to myself the unfortunate circumstance that I was in because of what they did to me. It was sinking in, going under my skin and right through my bones. Just the thought, not being bale to do something so natural and real for a woman, it sickened me.

No kids? For me?

For once, I never thought of having kids of my own, not for a long time to be fair. I never found the right guy to have one, and I wasn't one of those girls that daydreamed of having my perfect children in the world. That was not part of my life, but still, I could live and dream about it if I could. Maybe someday I would want to have my own family, to just teach them and love them more than my father ever did. It was scary for me to think of being a mother, since what my own father did to me screwed me up and what I would want to be as a parent. But then again I had my mother, who was perfect as my mother in every way.

Now that was no longer in the picture.

The door opened, though my back was turned and I was watching the rain hit the window outside there and coming down the glass. It was soothing for me to hear the rain and to see it move along the glass, almost taking my mind off the matters that were at hand. But once I heard the footsteps behind me, the door closing a bit, I finally turned around to see who it was and I felt my heart flutter just slightly.

Chato.

"Hey you," He said to me in a hopeful tone now as I rolled over to face him, still curled up a bit with the blanket near my waist.

"I thought visit hours were over," I said to him in a grumble now since felt tired too.

"Eh, Flag made an exception for me," Chato replied, sitting in the chair now as he looked at me with a hopeful stare, "I think he likes me." I smiled at the joke that he was trying to do on me, though it faltered still since the same subject was in my head now. He watched me, scooting a bit closer to me now and having me hate that I was in that stupid cuddle there without him comforting me, or just touching me to bring me warmth.

"How you feelin' ?" He asked me, raising both of his hands that were cuffed together to touch the plastic there with his fingers. My eyes followed him, wishing that there was no bubble there so I could touch his hands.

"I feel like a lab rat in here," I admitted to him, "And the fact that I heard the Doctors tell me that I can't…" I had to pause, not wanting to bring it up again and having it feel like I was swallowing knives if I did. But Chato beat me to it.

"Have kids," He needed, not as a question but more as a statement now as I looked down at my hands in front of me, already feeling weak and useless again now from what he told me.

"I'm a mess," I said in a grumble, now, not realizing that I said it out loud as Chato spoke up.

"Naw, you're not a mess," He reassured me, having me look up at him now as he said this to me in a calm manner.

"After what he did to me, or try to do with me….I am a mess, Chato. I don't…..I'm not going to get a normal life, aren't I?" I asked him almost in a broken manner. I watched him get up from his chair then, going to kneel on the ground to be at the same level at me now as he was close enough for me to reach out and touch him, but no avail from the goddamn bubble.

"You keep tellin' me that I deserve a second chance at having a life, right?" He asked me softly, having me nod my head, "Well, this is your chance too. This is your chance on doin' things right and your way,"

"Chato…" I started, but he placed his whole palm there on the plastic.

"Sweetheart, you're not lucked out. I know that face you're makin', you're thinkin' that you're out of luck," He explained to me with his war eyes pouring into my own, "But I also know how much you give a damn about someone like me. No one has ever cared about me like you have, no one. I love you for that, more than that. So I'm gonna care about you and make sure that you have the life that I know you want, okay?" He was like he was giving me some kind of vow for me to fall through with, in which I placed my hand there against the plastic and barely feeling the warmth of his hand through the material.

He was building me up, the same way I would build him up too. I would try to bring him back from darkness, and now he was doing the same for me. It was now my turn to find my way back to the start again. I felt like, in that moment, that I didn't deserve someone like him.

"Okay. I love you too." I replied to him seeing him give me a small smile there from the other side of the plastic bubble before going me a confused look, "What kind of look were you talking about?"

"Oh, this one," Chato said in a lighter tone as he was making a contorted face there, having me smirk at him, "I didn't want to tell you, but it's a bit embarrassing to see."

"Don't be mean," I joked, seeing him chuckle from his spot as he got back in the chair there and leaned back, looking more relaxed.

"Ain't being mean, just telling you the truth," he replied smoothly back, "It'an almost kind of…terrifying if you at it for too long."

"You're a bad liar," I advised him, a big smile on my own face.

"Now that is a low blow, even for you," He teased me, having me giggle in my bed there and it felt lighter than before when we were pretty much having a low moment together. This was nice, even with the thick plastic bubble there between us and the super clean air that they were pumping in for me to breathe in. Chato looked at the bubble there that I was in, a lost looking rather amused by how I was being held it.

"So…who long are you in here for?" Chato asked me, seeming more curious than anything.

"For another day or so, until they think that I'm clean from whatever that doctor gave me," I explained, seeing him nod his head slowly now as he surged his shoulders.

"So I have to wait a few days to just kiss you?" He asked his voice was low and I grinned at him, hearing how he was trying to make it casual, but I could tell the undertone there.

"Sadly yes. Don't tell me you're impatient," I teased, seeing him look away from me with a small smirk on his face, "Well what do you know, El Diablo himself is impatient."

"Don't be mean," he said back to me in his casual manner now as he looked back at me with that flirtatious look on his eye there as I bit my lip from trying to laugh anymore.

"I think it's cute," I voiced, seeing him watch me with his beautiful brown eyes that made my fingers feel numb and my heart beating a bit, "I wanna kiss you too."

"Should I break you out of this thing?" He asked me, his fingers tapping a bit from the thought.

"I don't want you to be in more trouble than it's worth," I answered, seeing him shrug his shoulders.

"Naw, it would be worth it though for you," He reasoned, in which I felt a hint of a blush there on my cheeks from what he said to me and how he said it, "Aww, I made you blush. "

"That wasn't you, that was the lights in the room," I said to in a counter attack, though it was playful.

"Oh I'm sure," He replied, the both of us falling into a comfortable silence there between us. Even with me there in the bubble and him still in chains, we were having a comfortable talk there and it felt like all was well again. I had to make sure that I was going to go through every day with a positive attitude and a new normal life ahead of me. I already hit the low that I knew that I would hit sometimes, I was there for a fact. But there was always a way to get up where I was, building my life up little by little with what I had left in my name. One of them is what I had with Chato, which felt real and pure more than anything else that I had in the world.

"Hey," Chato said to me bringing me out of my thoughts now as I saw him watching me, "Say that you were able to…to have kids," I could tell he was trying to tiptoe around the subject there since it was still fragile to me, "Would you want them?"

"Never thought about it before, but maybe…sometime in the future….yeah," I said to him, the damaged thought was a bit lighter from the thoughts of being a mother.

"Would you have wanted them with me?" He asked almost sheepishly now as I eyed him now, seeing that he was serious and intrigued at the same time. It was never really a thought for em, but then again it was never something that I pushed far away from me. It was a good thought, a real good thought that I could have with him in the future, to start a new life and to have a fresh start. Picturing the both of us together, maybe with a baby that could really bring a good amount of change there from. I smiled at him, making it seem soft as I felt myself nodding my head.

"Yes," I said, not really thinking about any other answer there as he drank that in for a moment or two. It made me worry about how he would answer that if he would want the same thing as me. Did he? After he lost his first family some time ago, was he willing to risk that and go through that if something were to happen again? I knew he was fragile about that, but then again, he was the one that brought it up. So he could see some kind of future with the both of us, but he only wondered about that part of our new life.

But I saw his eyes light up with his own small smile on his lips, even with his tattoos there in the room making him look handsome face there as he itched his fingers there against the plastic bubble near my face there as if he had some kind of revelation.

"Yeah, yeah me too." He replied without a single glitch there in his tone. I smiled widely at him, looking at him from my angle there on the pillow and I felt a bigger wide range of love for him. I placed my fingers were his was, feeling the heat there again from him now as I breathed out smoothly.

"I love you," he said to me, calmly and soothingly now as I watched our fingers there and I grinned.

"I love you too."


	28. Chapter 28

"What were you thinking? Going against my wishes and without my consent? You must really think that you were beyond lucky,"

Flag was standing there, taking the heat that Waller was giving her now since I was fully healthy and out of my bubble. I was escorted into the room there, standing a bit in the back now as Flag was standing in front of Waller, who looked like he was fuming out of her ears. She heard about what happened, and she was not taking it lightly.

"We were trying to get Rose Talbert back in one piece, ma'am," Flag said in a calm tone, having me watch him and see that he was wasn't a bit scared of what he was saying to her.

"But I still needed to have some kind of sense of what was going on," She argued with him, "You left me in the dark, and that was not part of the protocol,"

"Her life was hanging in the balance," Flag argued.

"You don't think that I know that?" Waller asked him in a low tone, having me look down at my feet since they were talking about me now and it felt like I shouldn't be in the room. I bit my lip now as I heard Flag speak then.

"She's my friend, and I was not going to wait for you to give the call when I knew she was goin' to die!" He said in a deep tone now, having me look at him now with a shocked there on my face. He was willing to get his own neck on the line there because of me, and how he cared about me as a friend. From the soldier who escorted me to Waller with a suicide mission, to someone who cared. We came far as friends, and he came far as a person.

Waller sighed, looking down at her desk now and thinking to herself as Flag looked over his shoddier at me, winking at me once before he looked forward again at Waller.

"It still would have been nice to get a warning about your idea…..if something would have gone wrong I would have had my head drowning in paperwork and questions from the pentagon. But….since it was successful, I can let this one slide," Both Flag and I looked at her in shock now, since she would have had his head on a spike then from doing something without her consent or her watching eyes.

"That is the only time that I'm going to let it slide," She wanted him now as her voice was once again low, "If you cross me like that again, I will make sure that you do regret it," It was like she was setting it in stone, and Flag didn't even flinch at all.

"Yes, ma'am," He replied smoothly, having Waller sighed now as she stood up straight again now.

"Good. Now, let me speak to Rose alone if you don't mind," She said to him now, Flag moving in a fluid pace now as he turned his heel and walked over to the door, near me now as he eyed me for a quick second. I could see the lines of stress on his face there as we were close enough.

"I don't regret doing that for you." He said to me under his breath, having me nod at him now as he walked out before we were caught in our own talk and conversation. At least I was comforted by the notion that I had an ally in this situation. Once he was out of the room, I looked ahead at Waller as she was watching me, waving me over carefully now.

"Come on over, grab a seat if you want," She said to me as if she was tired and not wanting this conversation. I walked over reluctantly, sitting down in one of the chairs there as she was sitting down at her own desk.

"First, and foremost," She said, pausing there as she looked right at me, "How are you feeling?"

"Fine as ever," I replied back to her smoothly now as I was watching her see what she had up her sleeve.

"Good to hear, and I want you to know that I'm glad that you're okay and that you're alive," She first explained, having me eye her now as she looked uncomfortable there with that talk, "We had no die that Luthor was behind this, let alone setting up trap just for you."

"No one did," I said in agreement.

"We should have bene better on this account, knowing better in advance and acting on it before it came down to this," She said, almost like she was trying to cover her tracks there and I gave her some kind of confused look. Was she trying to make this better for me? Making it less of an awkward thing for me, after what those two men did to me and almost damaging a part of my body permanently? What was going on?

"How should I respond to that?" I asked her now, almost dryly, "Hearing you say that it's….it's like you're trying to make it better,"

"That's not what's happening here, Rose…" Waller tried to reason but I shook my head, my foot tapping there and my fingers were shaking against the arm rest.

"You make it sound like it was just another mission, you really are," I explained coolly, seeing her go quietly now as I was watched her with cold eyes, "And yet he was the one who…who did that to me. To others maybe, since we have no clue. They almost killed me, and I know for a fact that they killed plenty of others." She was quiet then, having me take a deep breath and looked down at my tapping fingers there, the fingernails there were going hard and looking like a diamonds there since my emotions were not getting the best of me now and I was trying so hard to keep a level head. I only wondered how she thinks, how she would think that this was a normal talk and nothing more or less.

"I'm taking it personal, just like you are—" She started, but I flew up and threw the chair that I was sitting in against the wall, seeing it shatter and crumble to the floor.

"Bullshit! You don't have a fucking clue!" I roared at her, seeing her look a bit shaken there from how I reacted. But I was mad, mad at how she wasn't reacting it in a way that I thought she would. It almost felt like a betrayal now as I took in another deep breath and tried to calm myself down. This is not me, no matter how mad I was and now I was furious at what happened to me.

"Rose," Waller was calm again, trying to bring me back to my normal self again. I finally looked at her, seeing her watch me carefully as if I was going to have another raid there in front of her, break another chair or even the dumbass picture she had behind her on the wall.

"I may not know how you're feeling at the moment, but that doesn't mean that I don't care about you and your well-being. I'm not that heartless of a person," She reassured me, keeping my eyes on her now as my breathing was calming down and my hand was going back to normal again. She sighed and sat back down there in her chair. as if me launching one of her chairs against the wall didn't happen at all.

"I'm going to give you a bit of a leave, maybe a month or two if you're feeling up to it," She explained as she took out some papers.

"I don't need too—" I started, seeing her give me a hard stare.

"Rose, I don't care that you're feeling like you're in tip top shape. You went through hell and back, you're going to have a vacation and you're going to accept it," She said to me in a stern tone, in which I went silent as she shuffled through a couple more papers there within her grasp, "It'll be a paid vacation, you let me know where you want to go and I'll make the arrangements."

"You can do that?" I asked her in a bit of shock, seeing her raise her eyebrow at me.

"I can do plenty of things, and this is one of them," She explained to me in a small serious tone there as I thought about it a few seconds before I had another notion in my head.

"Can I bring someone with me?" She looked up at me with a raised eye now, having em feel like I was about to step on a land mine that could explode there. Maybe she was still suspicious about me and the others, maybe knowing about Chato and I. Did she know? Well.…she was about to find out.

"Why do I have a feeling that it does involve one of my prisoners?"

* * *

"You're a lucky bastard," Boomerang said to Chato now as I walked over to the both of them now and Chato looked over at him now as Flag was giving him some of the protocol material that he was going to have. It took some convincing on my part, with both Waller and Chato, but I made it work. We would have at least two weeks out of state at a place I thought would be great for just the both of us, and then the next two weeks would be on my own and getting my life back together again. But for now, we were getting ready.

Chato and I were going to go on vacation.

"What makes you say that?" Chato asked in a gruff now as I stood next to him and watched Flag get out the device that he was going to be wearing.

"You get to go on a bloody vacation with your lady friend, and the rest of us are stuck here rottin' away," Boomerang said as Deadshot smirked.

"Well, he's got the lowest count on his prison sentence for one, and secondly, he was requested by Rose herself," Flag explained as he tapped a few more buttons.

"Sorry for not bringing you along, Boomerang. I tried to get Waller into bringing you, but she wasn't biting on that one," I teased him, seeing him roll his eyes as Flag looked at Chato now and he held up his device that Chato was going to be wearing: an ankle bracelet.

"This will track your every move while you're out. If you're out of the boundaries that we give you, we come, snag you ass and bring you back to prison with an increase in your sentence. Waller's orders," He explained to Chato now as Chato nodded his head.

"Thanks, man." He thanked him.

"Has this ever happened before? An inmate getting to go on vacation?" Deadshot asked Flag now as Flag handed Chato the device for him to put on himself, "Can I get in on that action?"

"Why don't you asked Waller yourself?" Flag asked in amusement now as I chuckled, "Rose works for Waller and she was given a vacation. Waller owes her a bit of a vacation. She got to choose who to take with her, and it happens to be Chato."

"Do you ever get vacations?" Boomerang asked him in an amused tone as I looked over at Chato, seeing him get it on and stretched back up now.

"I'm not gonna talk about my recreational activities with you," Flag advised him as he then looked over at me now, "Okay, you know where you guys are going?"

"That I do," I replied back to him in confidence as Chato them eyed me in suspicion.

"Where are we going?" He asked me, having me just grin at him.

"Can't tell ya, it's a surprise," I replied.

"Wow, never took you as a hardass with not saying a word about where you're going with your boyfriend," Deadshot said to me in amusement.

"Well, he's not going to get it out of me until we get there," I reassured him, then looking over at Chato now as he watched me with intrigue as to what I had up my sleeve with him. He talked about starting a new life with me, the both of us starting fresh and leaving the past behind him. Since he was serious about it, I was too, and it was going to start with a vacation for the both of us.

"Alright, I'll bring the car around and they'll take you to the airport," Flag explained as he pulled out his phone and Chato looked at him in shock.

"Airport?" He asked him, then looking over at me now with a more confused look, "Rose, where are we goin'?"

"Like I said, sweetheart," I said to him squeezing our hands together, "We're on vacation and I have plenty of money for the both of us to relax."

"Should I be worried?" He asked in amusement, having me shake my head.

"Not one bit, _Chere_."

* * *

Pāhoa, Hawaii

"You had to take us to Hawaii," I was grinning from ear to ear now as the last of our bags were brought in and Chato was looking out one of the main windows at the sunset that was going over the Pacific Ocean. Sure, he was floored when we were taken to the airport and we had our own private jet, but he was shocked beyond belief when we landed in Hawaii and take via private car to our rented house that Waller found. If I was going to take us on a vacation, I was going to do it right, since we both deserved it and we both needed some sense of relief.

This house was spectacular.

It looked modern and yet comfortable at the same time, a mansion that was out in the middle of nowhere for us to have our privacy. Apparently, the owner of the mansion was someone from the pentagon, and Waller had to persuade the man to lend his summer retreat to both an ex-gang member and an ex-prisoner who were having their own vacation time there. It took some convincing and almost a hint of blackmail, but Waller made her end of the deal.

When our private car left, I was left there with Chato as I was opening some of the windows and we could hear the small waves there. It was soothing and relaxing, something that I think we both were looking for after the plenty of battles that we went through.

"It's a nice change of pace," I reminded him as I walked over to him, seeing him shove his hands there in his front pockets and watched the colorful sun going down and some of the palm trees, 'Why, you don't like it?"

"This place is….it's somethin' else," he said to me with a small look on his face, trying to drink it all in. I walked over to stand behind him, wrapping my arms around him from behind and resting my chin on his shoulder, the both of us watching the sunset.

"I thought of Alaska, you know. Somewhere cold where you can keep me warm," I said as I snuck a kiss there on his shoulder and he grinned, placing his hands on my own around his waist.

"Oh yeah?" He asked me in amusement now as I snuggled in closer to him.

"Yeah, snow everywhere….freezing cold temperatures. Such a cold place for me to use you as my personal heater," I teased some more, almost feeling him nuzzle back into me as I said those words. He was grinning again, the both of us just watching the oceans waves there and the green that we could see from the island and the surrounding area.

"So," I said to him finally, "What do you wanna do first?" He turned his head slightly over in my direction, almost a gleam there on his face as he leaned over a bit more, almost ready to kiss me but was not close enough for that to happen.

"I know one thing we can do," He murmured to me as I grinned at him, seeing him turn in my arms and look down at me. The color of the sunset there on his face with his tattoos made him look more handsome than before. It was good, just the two of us now and nothing else touching us at all.

"Really? Is that all you think about with me?" I teased him, seeing him chuckle a bit as she shook his head and held me closer.

"I think of plenty of things when I'm with you, and most of them involve just holding you," He explained, having me feel the heat from his arms and chest starting to grow there. "Besides, I'm already lucky enough to have you here, _Mi Amor_." He reassured me, having em run my fingers of this head in a soothing fashion now as I was feeling myself having more of a pull towards him than before. I didn't whether or not it was because we were in Hawaii, or we were no longer in some kind of danger, but this was where I wanted to be, This was a good place in my life for something good to blossom and grow. No matter the pain of not being able to be a mother someday, though that was still debatable, or even not being able to see my mother or father again.

Chato leaned in to kiss me, and it was pure bliss.


	29. Chapter 29

We were taking in every piece of this vacation, lazy days sleeping in and most of the time just lounging around. It felt nice to not have a huge schedule in front of us, and having just Chato there and not worrying about the rest of the world. It seemed like time stood still for the both of us, nothing moving forward and nothing moving backward. It was just….the both of us.

It was still surreal being there with him, waking up in the morning and seeing him on the other side of our bed still asleep. It felt like a real daydream there, almost as if I was about to wake up and be back in my crappy apartment. However, when he would wake up and smile at me, having it be the first all burst of happiness that day.

We would take each day as it came: going on walks along the beach, making our meals together when we didn't feel like ordering in, and just enjoying the secludedness that we had because of far away we were from the nearest town. I could tell this was not Chato's kind of element, but we both were open to what we wanted to do each day.

Most of the time was just is…being together there and sitting now near the sun on the balcony for hours on end talking. We were robbed that luxury back t the prison, being able to talk to another about anything and everything. I loved just being able to talk to him, hearing all the things that he liked or disliked and he heard the same from me. It wasn't that we haven't done that before, but this was a much time as we were going to have together to just talk and be around each other with no cell bars between us. I wanted to make sure we drank in all we could together when it came to being close to one another.

I loved those moments together, exploring the house and the land a bit during the day and exploring each other in bed at night. Those moments for us were tender, taking in each moment there and not rushing it. It was still a fiery new feeling for me when we would have sex, it almost felt like we were on a honeymoon of some sort but it wasn't official. I didn't care, I was beyond happy with him and this was how I was going to show him in return. It was intensifying what I was feeling towards him, my love growing and growing for him with every day that we were there.

Of course, we took advantage of the kitchen, at least I did. He was teaching me some of his dishes that he barely remembered from when he was younger, but it was mostly me doing the cooking and Chato was trying to help as much as he could. We did have one incident where he almost did light the kitchen on fire, but that was also avoided barely and we were having a bit of a laughing fit about it. A part of me wanted to let that happen since this wasn't our house, but then that wouldn't be kind.

I only wished that we could stay there and not go back to the real world. I knew that I was going to have to go back to the reality of things, mostly, still trying to fend my way around my father and how he was still somehow involved in my life. He was still locked up, but I felt like I would have to confront him and what he did to me sometime in my life. It was all about when I was ready to do that if I was strong enough to do that with him. Would Chato help me? Chato was not the biggest fan of my dad to begin with, and he knew about what my father did to me. If I knew one thing about Chato, is was that he was not going to let my father go anywhere near me. He was still protective over that part of my life that I couldn't change. That part was not going to change, which is what I loved about him.

But I still had to deal with my father.

* * *

I shot up from my bed, another bad dream that I had that really shook me to my core. Things were new there in my dreams, another haunting that took over me now and was holding on for dear life. But instead of it being my father and the manifestation that he was, it was another demon.

The demon of being childless.

The waves were crashing softly against the beach outside the house, having me see the blue moon come through the glass there and light up the master bedroom that we were in, nothing else was heard. I sighed, breathing in and out now as I was trying to calm myself that it was just a dream, a real and dream that I had there. It was just a dream, a bad one that I knew was trying to make me drown again.

Over to my right there, along next to me in the bed, Chato was fast sleep. He looked peaceful as if he hasn't had real rest in years and he was content where he was. This was our fourth day at the house, on our vacation, and ever since we came here, he's been sleeping like a baby. I was glad that I didn't wake him, he didn't deserve to lose sleep over my own sorrows now as I carefully snuck out of the bed and pulled on a sweatshirt and walked out barefoot. My boxers were loose enough for me to walk freely now as I left the bedroom and down the main hallway, the huge windows on both sides now as I was looking out into the ocean. It was a soothing setting to see, almost hypotonic now as I was watching the ocean move gracefully and with magic there. It made me stop and watch for a moment or two, going back to the dream and how it felt like that robbery on me was still raw and fragile.

I needed a walk.

The water was cool against my toes, almost making me feel a bit better with the white sand under my feet and the crisp air hitting my face. I was walking along the shoreline in front of the house, thinking once again with my own demons and thoughts. Never being able to have a child, that was painful enough to have me cry there. What was worse, was that Chato would want to have one with me, we both were on board with the notion of our own family in due time. That speck of optimism of us going that journey, getting a new life together, was merely a speck there. It was almost a sip of a dream away, never being able to be reached or touched. So I just had to dream, to just wonder what it would have been like for the two of us and our child.

I stopped near one of the larger lava rocks that was plastered to the beach there, sitting on the top and then watching the waves roll in and out. It made me miss my mother, wondering what she would say in this moment there with me. If she was here with me in that moment, what would she tell me? Would she know my pain? What kind of mother wouldn't now as I watched the moon there. I then thought of the others back at the prison, how they were doing without Chato and I. Were they having dreams too of their previous lives? It was still amazing to me to call them my friends, people that I could trust and console with.

"It's nice out here at night," I looked behind me, seeing Chato walk over to me barefoot there in the sand and his hands there in his pajama pants pockets, wearing no shirt adn enjoying the cool night. He had a content look on his face there as he was walking over to me and stood behind me, wrapping one arm around me now as we were watching the waves for a moment or two.

"I woke you, didn't I?" I asked him as he rubbed my arm in a soothing rhythm.

"Naw, I had a dream and I woke up. I saw you were gone and you were walking here," He explained as I looked over at him in concern.

"What did you dream about?" I asked him, seeing him think to himself before he shook his head.

"You don't wanna hear about it," He replied, almost burying it underneath him now as I nudged him.

"I do. Come on, _Chere_. Tell me." I urged, seeing him bit his lower lip slightly before he took in his own deep breath.

"I had a dream about you and me…having a kid," he said, almost in hesitance now as he looked down at him and I stared back at him. He was watching to see if I was going to break into a thousand pieces from that lost dream that I knew we both couldn't have. But there was a time for that and has long past. There was no real reason to be thinking about and bringing it up like a bad omen. That could be selfish on my part, and since we were going to move on with our lives and be positive and happy, this was going to be part of it whether we liked it or not.

"Boy or girl?" I asked, seeing him look down at me now with intrigued eyes as I looked out into the sea.

"What?" He asked me back.

"Was it a boy or a girl?" I asked him again, sounding so pleasant about it. I did want to know, what he thought in his mind our family would look like. He paused as I wrapped an arm around his waist to pull him a bit closer.

"Girl and she looked just like you," He explained, "She was 3, maybe 4 years old and running around with me. Had brown hair, long brown hair with some of your red hair, and big green eyes like you. Man, she was beautiful."

"I bet you she had freckles," I said to him, adding in and he nodded his head.

"Oh, hundreds of them. She had the biggest smile," He said agreement as I leaned my head on his hip that was near me.

"Like yours, I bet. I love your smile, it kills me," I voiced, seeing him lean into me a bit more as he was still stroking my arm there with his nimble fingers.

"We named her Mary, after your mom," He said to me, having me grin widely at him now I planted a kiss on his bare hip that was near me. It was almost a bit morbid for us to talk about a dream and how it felt so real, how we acted like it was real. But then again, this was what we needed. No matter how badly this would not happen to us, we were still going to be content with it and in how we act about it.

"We're gonna have a good life, you and me," I reassured him as he looked down at me and I rested my head against him again and watched the sea, "I don't care if we don't have a family or that we're still running around like criminals. All I need in this world now on is my family, and you." I wanted to be certain with him that he was all I needed, I needed something like him from the moment I was sent to prison, and I didn't know if it was fate or some kind of cruel joke of God, but we found each other and we held on without a second thought to it.

"You're all I need too, Rose," He said in agreement as he helped me up from the rock there where I was perched on and we were standing there, side by side, my arm around his waist and his the same now as we were walking back to the house, the calming of the night there was enough for me to feel content with Chato now as he snuck a kiss in my hair.

"We're sappy, aren't we?" I asked him now in an amused manner, seeing him shrug his shoulders there as we were walking along the beach.

"Eh, we're not too bad," he promised me as I could see the outdoor steps that would take us back to the house there, "Good thing we're not teenagers or nothin' like that."

"Never took you as a sap anyhow, what with your hard exterior," I teased him as he poked my side there.

"Don't make me dunk you in the pool again." He challenged me, having me stop the both of us walking there and I eyed him, a big grin on my face. I felt as though I still ended to keep what we had together light enough for us to get through each day, no matter the obstacle there as I then poked him in the side once more before I ran away from him over to the house.

"Come get me then, flame boy!" I said to him over my shoulder, seeing him run after me and I laughed. Within that night, we were free.

* * *

"Rose! Your phone's going off!"

"Comin'!" I was walking out of the bedroom, ruffling my showered hair there and seeing Chato at the kitchen island, getting some food together for lunch for the both of us before we would go for and go swimming. It was the second to last day that we had before we would go off and get back to the real world. I wished it would last longer, but then again it was the perfect amount of time for the both of us.

My phone sat there in front of Chato and it was in fact ringing. I grabbed it and turned it on, not being familiar with the number and placing it on my ear there.

"Hello?" I asked into the phone politely.

"Hello, Rose Talbert."

It was the Joker.

I froze, hearing that other voice on the line and feeling like I was being tricked. It can't be him, could it? It made me freeze all the way down my spine and around my skin there as he made it sound like we were old friends and he was reconnecting with me. I clutched the counter there from just hearing his voice alone, Chato stopping his own actions and seeing the look of fear there on my face.

"Now I know what you're thinking, how can someone like me call someone like you out of the blue? Well, I'll let you know that I can some connections from people, but don't worry. This isn't a threatening kind of call, just more a get to know you kind of basis," I looked over at Chato now, seeing him give me a sense of concern there since he had no idea what was going on as I said nothing there on the other end.

"Harley told me about you, how you're one of her gal pals. That's sayin' something, since she doesn't have too many lady friends, but man does the girl know how to keep them in line. You're an exception, to be honest, and that's why I'm callin' you up."

"What is it?" Chato asked me in a whisper now as I lowered the phone and taped the speaker button.

"After she told me about you being snagged by Luthor, how could I say no to my Queen when she asked for help?" The voice continued as Chato's eyes went big as I looked at the phone now, "So when I learned about ya, call me crazy, but I was intrigued. Now I know you have ties with that old prison that my girl was in, including a certain another gifted individual that gets your motor runnin', I'm not gonna judge, but I have a proposition for ya." I looked at Chato in hesitance now as he walked over to stand next to me now, the both of us listening in on what this guy wanted with me.

"I wanna talk with ya, one on one and see how I feel about ya. I have a fine eye for finding things that can blow me away, and that little parlor trick with turnin' yourself into one of my favorite things, I was hooked!" He laughed a bit, sounding a bit too creepy as he then went on, "Let me know when you can get in touch and we can talk about it. Like I said, this is no death call, this is a friendly chat. Think about it, and let my lady know."

The phone went dead.

I was looking at the phone in shock now, not realizing what just happened and who called me. I felt my breath leaving me now as Chato reached over and took my hand in his, seeing the fear there in my eyes. The Joker wanted to meet with me, and just to talk. That didn't seem right, nor did it really want to settle in my own stomach then as I was trying to figure out how he got a hold of me, letting along wanting to talk to me in general. What did he want with me? It sounded like it had something to do with my ability and how he was interested in it, not to mention Harley walked about me to him from time to time.

"I don't like it," Chato said in a breath now, still shocked himself now as I looked over at him now, seeing the worry on his face, "Why is he callin' you?"

"Harley must have talked to him about me," I reminded him, "He did help rescue me from Luthor."

"But now he wants to talk?" He asked me now, pointing to the phone with his spare hand, "Something about him ain't sitting too well with me. If he wants to talk to you, he might be having somethin' else up his sleeve." I too was confused, looking back at the phone then and thinking the infamous question.

What does The Joker truly want?


	30. Chapter 30

"Holy….holy shit."

"Damn," I said in a gasp now as we were both trying to breathe in and out now, staring at the ceiling and trying to get my head back in the game again. This was the mots intense we ever had there together, the sheet being rustled up between us, mine wrapped around my upper chest and down and his was around his own waist. It was our last day there in Hawaii, and after that phone call I had with The Joker some time before, I wanted to place it on the back burner and focus more on being there with Chato and having those last moments of peace there between the both of us.

"I think that was the best one we had," I asked in a gasp there, hearing him breathe deeply and grin too from what we did, almost trying to catch his own breath as well. We only had the nightstand lights on, so I could look over at him and see the afterglow there, but there was pure bliss there on his face.

"Best I've ever had," He said in a gasp now as he was beaming and looking over at me now, having me shake my head at him.

"Well then give me a trophy for that one," I joked, hearing him chuckle from my antics with him as I left myself evening back out again from the natural high that I got with him. My fingers were still tingling and my own head felt nice and clear from then on out. I felt Chato grasp my hand there between us, feeling that he was still trembling a bit too.

"Honestly, though, that was the best one I had," He reassured me, having me look over at him now as I saw him giving me a loving stare there.

"Yeah?" I asked, not wanting to have some kind of insecurity come out there after having another round of sex with him. He nodded his head, moving over a bit closer now as he could see some kind of uneasiness there on my face after I asked me.

"I'm not gonna lie about somethin' like that to you, Mi Armor," He reassured me as he kissed our joined hands there in the middle,"What, you have better with someone else?"

"Oh of course, with my plenty of suitors and other boyfriends that I've had in the past," I said to him in amusement as he was watching me, having him see the sarcasm there on my face and hearing it in my eyes.

"You make that sound terrible," He added, having me sigh in content now as I shook my head.

"No, I haven't…I've never been with anyone with a real relationship like this before," I confessed to him, looking at Chato square in the eyes, "Ever." He could see the look on my face, scooting even a bit closer now as he was

"I only had one other that was pretty close," He admitted to me too, "But…this," He paused as he was motioning between us now with one of his fingers, "This was the best for me."

"You're a charmer for sure with your words," I teased, seeing him grin as he leaned over and gave me reassuring and loving kiss there, keeping the mood light and romantic there between the both of us and romantic at the same time.

"Sucks that we have to leave here and go back," he said in a casual manner, having me groan and roll to lay on my belly there next to him, rested my head hear his shoulder on my pillow.

"Don't remind me that," I said in a grumble there into my pillow before I looked over at him now, "Do we have to go back?"

"If we don't I'll get locked up some more," He reminded me, showing his bare ankle a bit from behind the sheets and we both looked to see his ankle bracelet and tracker.

"Damn, and I can't find a way to get it off for you," I said back to him as he placed it back under the covers, "Maybe I saw saw it off with my finger."

"Then you'll be locked up," Chato commented.

"Eh, I can handle a few more years," I joked as he rolled to his side, facing me and moving his hand over to move my hair around a bit near my skin, a calming feeling that made me lose track of mere moments of time there from just watching him there, across from me.

"If we go back there, I go back to prison and you work for Waller," He explained as he moving around some of my hair with his fingers and almost causing a peaceful rhythm there and I watched him and waited on every word, "All I wanna do is just…have a life with you outside the prison."

"We will," I reminded him calmly as I traced his tattoos along his arms while he was still managing my hair, "In due time we will."

"I'd rather have that now with you than wait anymore," he explained some more as he touched my neck there with his fingers and giving me a tingle sensation,

"But you're nearly there, you know. Compared to the others you have less time there in your sentence," I explained in optimism, wanting him to not dread on that thought and not feel bad about it, "Before you know it, you'll be out there."

"And we can have more of this," He agreed, sneaking over to kiss my shoulder in a loving manner now as I hummed in agreement. There was never any real talk about what we were going to do for our future. What kind of life the both of us was going to have, and even though we were fine for it to just be the two of us, was there going to be more than that? Was there even going to be the concept of marriage there? I was hesitant in throwing those things at him all at one time since we were just content with not having kids together though it broke our hearts. But us getting married? I felt like I didn't want to step on that landline anytime soon, so I pushed that thought out of my head.

"You okay?" He asked me, seeing me think to myself as I nodded my head, but he then gave me an amused look there as he leaned over to be closer to me, enough for me to feel that simmer again, "You know we have about 6 more hours until we leave and get to the airport."

"What did you have in mind?" I asked him, barely touching his lips there as he gave me look that showed that he was thinking, making me chuckle as I leaned over to kiss him squarely on the mouth.

That thought was for another time.

* * *

Once we got back to reality and back to the real world, we were back to our regular lives with the Suicide Squad and going on plenty of risky missions. I missed those two weeks in Hawaii, but then again it was good to see the others back the prison. They were happy to see us, and of course, we were teased back and forth from the moment we were alone and without Flag there to supervise. The only one that didn't tease at all was Croc, but I knew he knew that I would cause damage to him if he did. We both were on neutral grounds.

I didn't mention the phone call I had with the Joker, not to one person there since it was something that I had to figure out of myself really. It wasn't right for me to bring that up to them, and since they were still trying to figure out Harley herself, I thought it would not be the best time. Chao reassured me that he wouldn't say a single word about it either since it was still trying to settle in his own stomach too that The Joker wanted to have a talk with me.

Weeks came and went: going on missions left and right and trying to at least save our own necks. The vacation I had with Chato became more than a memory now as I was going through the motions of life, it made me think back on how long that I was going at this. It's been long months, almost half a year that I was working for Waller now and the Suicide Squad was both going strong and a mere ghost in the eyes of the public. I didn't think about the things of the past, all of the past pains and memories They were more like calluses along my hands, not open and raw.

But now, at this point in my life, I have realized that it's almost been close to a year since I joined the Suicide Squad. It was almost shocking to think that months came and went, missions there flying by, and time was almost slipping away as I was working for Waller and getting some of her dirty work done. Bombs being dismantled, robberies being handled, and wannabe villains that were trying to take over the world. But we took care them, one at a time, and that meant Chato's sentencing was getting smaller and smaller.

I could only count the missions that were left that would show that he was free and he could be done with prison life, forever.

* * *

"You sure it ain't the flu that's running around?" Deadshot asked me now as we both were standing back to back now and train to defend ourselves against another round of terrorists that were holding up in a bank and were trying to rob and kill the people in there. We got a call about the robbery and how they already killed a couple of people there, let along holding some of the policemen hostage there in one of the vaults. But in the current moment, Deadshot was questioning me as to why I was throwing up every once in awhile and not feeling like my normal self. It's been a few days since it happened, and I was just trying to get through each day and not make it a big scene.

"I don't know and I don't want to talk about it right now," I argued back with him over his round of gunfire with the terrorists that were hiding behind one of the pillars across the way of the bank lobby. We were doing okay within that moment, Chato was on the other side of the lobby trying to get rid of some of those terrorists as I was there helping Deadshot when it came to being his shield. I was in my diamond form there, standing in front of him and taking all the gunfire there with ease as he was firing behind me with his weapon on his wrist.

"Well, what else could it be that got ya sick?" He asked me now as he then dodged one more bullet that almost hit him square in the head, having me huff there and shoot out a few diamonds there from the palm of my hands just to back them off and look over at Deadshot now unamused.

"I'm not going to talk about my health with you while we're working here," I said to him in a stern manner, seeing him shift a bit there now seeing the agitating there in my diamond formed face.

"Calm yourself, shiny." He said using the nickname there and I knew he hated, shooting the last person there and we were at ease there at that side of the lobby. We both walked over to Chato now as I was hearing something on the other end of the comm there in my earpiece, almost like there was trouble there both Deadshot and I looked at each other.

"Boomerang?" I asked him, seeing him nod his head.

"Boomerang," He replied, having me roll my eyes and jog over to the main staircase that would lead to the lower level and where the vaults were, right where the heavy hitting was happening with the robbery.

"Tablet and Deadshot are on the way to the vault, backup is not needed," Deadshot said to his comm piece now as I was jogging a bit down the steps there and he was right behind me, keeping close by now as I was hearing more of the gunshots there. As soon as I got to the end of the stairs, I broke into a run now as the gunfire was loud and almost ringing in the room now as I was going down the hallway in a huff. I was still trying to focus on the mission, not the fact that I was sick for the past few days and things were still in the back of my head. This was not the time for it as I turned the corner and I saw the batter there. Boomerang was trying to fend off some of the terrorists there, hitting them with his own boomerang and it was doing some damage, but not enough to stop them completely.

I ran over to one of the end tables that against the walls there in the hallway, grabbing it in my hand and holding it up in the air like it was an animal balloon with ease as I ran over to the area where I saw the terrorists and I threw the table. It was like I was throwing it like a baseball, hitting a few of them hard and then throwing out my own hand there and hitting the rest of them that were still up and about. They were trying to hit me, Boomerang hitting the others that were dodging me as I was walking closer and closer now, dodging bullets after bullets.

"Boomerang get the vault open!" Deadshot said behind me now as I was getting the terrorist attention on me to have Boomerang slip out of the way and over to the vault to help the cops that were being held hostage. I was still being a shield there as the terrorists were realizing that guns were not going to work on me. Two them ran over to me now as they were trying to least pin me down with something, Having me grab one and throw him against the wall and dodge the other one that tried to hit me. I grabbed him and punched him across his jaw, hearing it crack as he fell to the floor. But as he fell to the floor, something was injected in me in a jolt but it didn't hurt, almost like a bruise as I looked down and had a surprised look on my face.

There was a knife sticking out of me slightly.

I didn't, nor was it hurting me at all since it was just there and sticking out like it was there within a wall. I looked down at it for a split second, before slowly looking up and seeing about twenty feet away one of the soldiers, his hand was was still out and showing that he was the one that threw the knife there. I eyed him, slowly grabbing the knife there against my upper chest and holding it tight there as Deadshot did a slow whistle.

"You better run, boy," He wanted the soldier as I took out the knife with ease as if it didn't affect me at all. I held it in my hand there and I threw it out at him before he could run off screaming for the hills and it hit him in the chest, launching him in the air for a bit now as he fell to the floor dead.

"The cops are fine! I think we got this one," Boomerang said in my comm now as both Deadshot and I walked together over to the area where I could see the vault there looking calm compare dot the mere moments before when it was drenched in hell. I sighed in relief, hearing the cops coming out and I looked over at Deadshot now, seeing him eyeing me up and down now as if he had a tough in his head.

"What?" I asked him, slowly going back to my human self again now as I was no longer thinking that we were in danger. He looked at me now in amusement, saying the next words now as if we were having another conversation.

"Maybe you're pregnant." I looked at him in shock now as he walked away, not saying it in the offense but in a regular kind of talk there between two friends. But I was shocked when he said that, seeing him walk off now as I was thinking to myself how that could be possible. It couldn't be right, not with what happened in the past and how I was told that it could not be possible. But the key word there is, could, not completely impossible. Something could be on the other end there, and I briefly looked down at my own stomach there, wondering if that was even possible with me now since I was not longer thinking about being a mother in the future.

Was that light now back again?


	31. Chapter 31

There were two things that were there on top of the table, and I was waiting for at least one of them to go off and to signal for me to move and to function. But now it was the worst waiting game, having me wonder now if I was going to lose my mind from one of the items and lose my nerve from the other. But then again I could lose both from what this was going to do as I sat there on top of my bed, looking at the nightstand and seeing those two things there that were going to either bring me beyond joy or just bring me insanity.

My cell phone, and a pregnancy test.

I knew that some time ago I met with the same doctor that helped me when I was brought in from Luthor and his cell there. He took some blood to test my levels, just to make sure that I went back to normal again after some time back working again. This doctor explained to me, as I was sitting right in front of him, that the mere chance of me having a child anytime in the future was very slim, beyond slim to the point that it could be beyond impossible. I sat there, taking it all with a grain of salt but still hating hearing what the doctor was telling me. Of course, I hated hearing it, like a wound that was reopened and exposed again for everyone to look at and witness. But then again, after he told me what kind of medicine and toxins that the scientist gave me in order to kill me, he still gave me that sense of hope that something could happen.

"Don't rule this out completely. It could still be possible for you, either close to now or in the far future. I say, have hope."

So here I was, sitting there on my bed and almost having a panic attack, thinking that is was a stupid thing that I did and this was all in my head. It had to be in my head, thinking that I was pregnant after a good week or so of getting morning sickness and craving certain foods when I tried to eat. It could be me getting sick in general, or some kind of effect that I had from any of the other missions that I was on. This might make me look beyond stupid and insane at the same time, almost to the point of desperation in how I was looking at the test and hoping that it was positive.

What in the hell was wrong with me.

With the phone, I was still tiptoeing around the notion of talking to The Joker, in which I would have to get in contact with Harley. A part of me thought it really was going to be suicidal on my part, let alone a dumb idea that the others were thinking that was not wise on my part. The Joker was someone not to be taken lightly, he was not predictable at all. It was like dealing with a bomb that was about to go off, and now he wanted to talk to me like we were about to have a casual conversation. So it was now up to me if I was going to do it, and if I was going to go along with this along. Chato would never let that happen, he won't let me do something like that and hope that I would come back in one piece. That would mean that I would have to convince him over and over that I knew what I was doing if I was going to do it.

Of course, my phone went off first. I turned it on speaker now as I was watched the pregnancy test there and thinking that it was another bomb that was going to explode and shake thing up in my life.

"Hey," I said to the phone now.

"Heya, doll face! I thought you would call sometime. I've missed ya!" Harley said in glee there on the other end of the phone.

"Yeah, yeah me too," I said inheritance there now as she chuckled there.

"So, you ready to meet him?" I felt like I was about to make a bad decision, but better to do that than tiptoe around the thought and avoid it at all times. I knew Chato was about to kill me, and I was already on ends as it was, but I had to deal with this, with whatever it was.

"Yes I am."

* * *

"No, I don't want ya to do it," I sighed, rubbing my face there as I was telling Chato this while he was in his cell and looking at me in shock. After I agreed to talk to The Joker and Harley said she would come get me at my old apartment, I had to break the news of Chato now and let him know what I was about to do. Of course, I knew he was going to hate this and not agree, but it was more heartbreaking to see him react in this way now as I was trying to stay positive.

"I have to talk to him to see what he wants," I reasoned, seeing him shake his head now as I could tell this was going to be another fight between us.

"He's dangerous, don't you know that?" He asked me, having me shift there and look at him in a questioned manner.

"Of course I do, Chato," I replied back to him.

"So why are ya going over to talk to the guy? You know what he does to people who cross him?" He asked me, his voice was getting a bit higher now and angrier as he was talking about this, "I know guys like them, they're not trusting people, Rose. Don't do it."

"If I don't meet him now, he's going to try and talk to me sometime in the near future whether I liked it or not," I explained to him thoroughly now as I was thinking that I had to make sure this was going to be a minimal fight compared to other ones that we have had in the past,"I might as well get it over with and have him talk to me on whatever he wants."

"And I know what he'll do to you when he finds out something that he doesn't like to hear," Chato muttered at me as he was eyeing me carefully now, "I don't want you in the same damn room as that guy."

"As mean as this is going to sound, Chato," I said in a hesitant manner now as I eyed him with tenderness there, "You can't stop me from seeing him," I knew that it might have sounded beyond rule and mean for me to say that to someone that I loved beyond words, but it was true. I knew that this was only up to me and me alone, that Chato had to really say about this.

Chao looked down and breathed deeply. grabbing the bars in front of him and trying to calm himself down. I knew this was breaking his heart: having me go off and meet some sociopath and he was not going to be there to help me, to protect me. This was going to kill him now, and I walked over to him as he was there on the other side of the bars, slowly reaching over to touch his knuckles there that were pressed so hard against the steel bars and I could feel the hotness there in his knuckles. He was still looking down, as if afraid to snap when he looked at me.

"Chato," I said to him in a soothing fashion as I rubbed his knuckles there with my fingers to try and coax him out of his mind, "He won't hurt me."

"You don't know that," he mumbled, keeping his voice again.

"I do because Harley won't let him hurt me," I answered and I saw him look up at me now with haunting eyes, "She won't let him do anything to me. You and I both know that Harley's not gonna let me be killed,"

"But he can still….get in your head," He said to me now as he moved his own fingers to laced ours together, "I know how guys like them get in people's head, you know? Make them think things that ain't true, and I feel like he'll do the same for you. I've been down that road, that gang life, and it ain't pretty and I don't want you in it,"

"I won't be in like that, you know that about me," I said back in a calm way now as I was trying to make sure that he knew what I was doing. He didn't seem me a naive, nor did he see me as weak. He knew that I could handle myself in any kind of situation, but this was different. This had to deal with The Joker.

Of course, he would be scared.

"Do the others know?" Chato asked me now softly, having me shake my head in a slow manner.

"None of them know, and I don't want them to know just yet until after it's done. If they try anything because I'm there with The Joker, then all of our asses will be on the line," I explained to him, already thinking of the plan there and how it could turn downhill just because of a simple act of instinct, "I won't let that happen to them."

"Yeah, that could be bad," Chato agreed as he looked up and over down the hallway now, over to where the others were in their cells.

"I'll ask you nicely not to tell them, but I know you won't," I said to have him look over at me now with an amused look on his face, a true first since we started this conversation.

"Why you say that?" He asked me now.

"Since I know you love me, and you won't do that," I answered, seeing him then slowly get warm one again now as I grinned at him and I kept our joined fingers there together. I took my own deep breath, thinking that we would have to move back to our normal relationship together. This trust that we had to build up since he was in the prison and I wasn't, it was going to be fierce compared to everything else.

"Chato, I promise you I can do this," I promised him there, seeing him take one more deep breath there before he knew that he had no real reason to hold me back, "He won't get into my head, and he won't do anything to me. You trust me?" He stayed there for a moment, thinking about it which scared me since I had a feeling that he would say no.

Chato brought my hands through the bar, very gently there into his own hands and he brought my hands up to kiss them both there in a soothing fashion. It was painful for me to see him there and not be able to help me out with this. I was still not telling him about me and the thought of being pregnant, since this was more than enough for me to deal with, and that would come later. There was less optimism in that topic, less of a thought that I would be positive. That would be another talk that we would have to have later.

"I do trust you, _Mi Amor_."

* * *

I stood outside my apartment, waiting for Harley and her henchman to come over and snatch me so I could talk to The Joker. Of course that day it started to rain, and I had to wear one of my jackets with the hoodie up and over my head there. It was scary now, that day there and watching for the van or whatever was going to come and get me. It felt like now this was a bad idea, a real bad idea now as I was tapping my foot there back and forth against the cement there in front of my apartment and hearing the rolling thunder of the storm that was coming in.

One van slowly rolled up now, a black SUV of a van now as I looked over there and not moved an inch, thinking that if I did, someone would shoot me with something to stun me. But nothing happened not at first as another clap of thunder came into the area and the van stayed there in front of me by the side of the road, having me hate that there were tinr=ted windows there and nothing moved for a few seconds.

The window in front of me rolled down slowly, having me see none other than Harley Quinn decked out in a chic attire with her pink and blue hair there all dolled up like she as going out on a date. She looked right at me, up and down now as I saw her and she winked at me now.

"Come on in, beautiful."

* * *

"You don't have to worry about a thing," Harley eased means we were walking down some kind of long hallway that in a abounded building. I was staying close to her, some of her henchmen were in front of us and behind us as escorts while we were going to what seemed to be a bigger meeting room. I felt like with every single step I was taking with Harley, it was getting more and more nerve-wracking for me to just think that I was going to have smoked of basic conversation with him, nothing more or less of that. Even Harley seemed more excited about it, and that was the part that scared me.

She saw nothing dangerous with what was about to happen.

"I'm not worried," I lied, seeing her look at me sideways with her quirky grin there, seeing through my lie.

"Of course you are, you have that ace about you and shows ya nervous," She said as she playfully shoved me with her hand,"I'll make sure that nothin' does happen to ya. Mr. J just wants to talk ya about what he thinks would be good future for you,"

"Future?" I asked her as one of the henchmen opened the double doors that would lead into the meeting room.

"Sure, a good one too," She left it at that as we went through the double doors and I looked around at the room in awe. It was cleaned up, somewhat, with graffiti all over the walls that were not there against the length high windows that was looking out into the storm there, a assortment of mix matched chairs around a meeting table and one chair that was red leather at the very end, having me know that it was his chair.

"Come, on. Sit," She urged me now as she got me in one of the seats near the front luxury chair. I sat down, hearing her giggle now as she was then walked over to the front chair, shading behind it like she was showing. It was then that she looked a time fully now, something was off in her as she was seeing something either one me or within me that made me lose her smile. I looked at her in confusion now, like something was, in fact, haunting her and wondered what was going on.

"Harley?" I asked her now as the doors opened again and someone behind me was talking.

"She's here, boss."

"Nothin'. Nothin' at all," She responded to me now, covering up what she had there within that moment. She looked past me now, her face breaking out in a huge smile there like she was seeing the love of her life. She was, to be fair, "Heya pudding'!"

"Hello, My Queen."

Oh shit.


	32. Chapter 32

He was nothing that I thought he as going to be. Then again, I've never seen his face before.

His skin as pale, beyond pale to the point of it looking unhealthy there along with some tattoos etched on the collarbone, arms and even a couple on his face. His hair was a shocking green, slicked back and his eyes were bright, yet terrifying at the same time. He had silver caps on his teeth, his lips looking rather red and he was skinny as a board. I didn't move an inch now as he walked over to where the main red chair was: wearing a pistol chest holster and having a cane in one hand with some rings there. I watched him carefully, clutching one of my hands there on the armrest and the other was there in my lap, not knowing where to place my hand there.

"So, this is the infamous Rose Talbert," His voice alone was a bit on the sinister side, a little raspy for me to swallow down and I nodded my head slowly as he slumped down in his chair there, realizing in it now and he placed his cane there against the meeting room and he then pointed to one of his henchman, "A drink for the lady, whatever she desires," He eyed me then, in which I wanted to not talk at all but now I had to.

"Just water would be…be fine," I said to him in a hesitant manner, seeing him analyze me now as if I said the wrong answer to him. He slowly nodded and motioned with his head to the henchman but kept his eyes on me still.

"You heard her," He said in a low tone now, the henchman walking off as Harley walked over to stand behind him, wrapping one arm on the chair there and she grinned, thinking that this was the best thing to see in the world there in front of her.

"So, I have heard plenty from my Queen here about you," He said to me now, a small smile on his face as Harley chuckled behind him, "She would not stop talkin' about the friend she made in that prison back there on the bayou. It took some convincing on her end, plenty of convincing," He said in a chuckle now, almost like he was saying some kind of innuendo. It almost gave Harley a hint go a blush there on her cheeks now as The Joker went on, "But I do have to say, I like what I saw on that rooftop."

"The rooftop?" I asked him in hesitance there as one of the henchmen walked over to placed a glass of water there with some ice inside already inside of the glass and it was chilled.

"Well, after I came over in my carriage to snag miss Harley here from the clutches of The Man," He said to me in a joking kind of way, "I saw your little parlor trick as you were runnin' across the roof there, shining bright like a diamond as the ol' song says. So…I gotta ask…how do ya do it?"

"I just….do it I guess," I said to him in a shaky tone, seeing him tilt his head at me now and see how I was petrified from just sitting there in front of him now as he clicked his tongue and gave me a small grin.

"No need to be worried or scared of me. I'm not gonna do anythin' to ya. Besides, I've promised Harley to be on my best behavior," He said to me now as he was trying to make it sound so reassuring and pleasant for me to hear and to be reassured by. Harley giggled, leaning down to kiss him on his cheek and I could see a small glimmer of lipstick that was there. He didn't wipe it off. Keeping it on there like it was a stamp of some sort.

"Thanks, Puddin'," She said to him, her voice filled with giddiness and love there as The Joker merely smiled.

"So, since she's been a twitter about ya, I figure I would want to talk to ya about maybe…rehinkin' your future there at that ol' prison and those other guys," He explained to me, Harley looking over at me from her spot behind the chair and I could see she was wondering the same thing too.

"My future?" I asked him now, shifting a bit there as I looked over at the water glass there and thinking whether or not that I should take the glass and drink it in front of him now. I slowly reached over and grabbed the glass there as he talked some more.

"I would very much like to tell ya, that what you have is…..dare I say…extraordinary," He said in a gasp now, like he was working himself up from what he was telling me there, "I'm a fan of the finer things in life myself, and what you can do is making me a huge fan! Harley tellin' me herself was enough, but seein' it with my own eyes was even better!"

"Thanks," I said to him, trying to sound thankful about it as I took a hesitant sip there from the glass and feeling the soft coolness there in the liquid.

"I don't really do this kind of thing with others, especially metahumans and some of the messiness that they bring to the table. I've worked with them in the past, not my real cup of tea," He said under his breath to me with the last part and I shifted a bit in my chair, "However, given the circumstances that the world has brought to us special folks, I fell like I'll make it an exception with you." I looked from The Joker over to Harley briefly, to see on her face that would show that she was in the same agreement there with her soulmate. So far, she was still in agreement now.

"I'm looking to outreach my power, gettin' more people under my wing and expanding my business," He explained to me as he sat up a bit and folded his hands there on top of the table and I could see his jewelry there on his hands, "Mostly in Gotham, of course, but anywhere else where I see true potential." It was like we were having some kind of business meeting, two people trying to combine power there.

I could only sit there and nod my head now as I could hear out of the corner of my eye one of his henchman stepping up behind me, almost a breath away now as I kept my eyes on The Joker as he leaned back a bit and then motioned with one finger to one of his other henchmen. The henchman walked away within an instant now.

"So, with that bein' said, sometimes having regular henchman around all the time that are so fragile and wasteful is making me loose my money, almost like blowing tissue into the wind after a good use out of it or two," He said to me now as the henchman came back with the glass of alcohol that Joker apparently wanted him to grab for him,"I feel like I should expand my avenues when it comes to allies and people that are willin' to work with little ol' me. So, with that being said….how do you feel about working with someone like me."

I stayed quiet for a second, seeing him take a swig from his alcohol as he was watching me like a hawk now just to see what was going to be my answer. I didn't know what to tell him since he was basically trying to recur time for work with him. With him? It was almost like he was trying to let me know that I was going to work for him. I wanted to know that. not that I was intrigued or interested, but I was more along the thoughts of what this really meant for me and what this was entailing

"I would work with you?" I asked him now, seeing him nod his head now as he took another drink there and I thought about it myself. I had some kind of intuition that he would want to maybe use my ability for his own gesture and his own sense of power. It felt like it to me, almost like he wanted to use my power for his own gain. So, how was I going to say no to him there?

"You make it sound such a chore, which is fine since it kind of does," He said to me as he could see the discomfort there on my face, "But trust me, I'll make it worthwhile to those that do work for me and with me. It's no picnic," He ruffled his shirt a bit now as he was thinking about it to himself now, "I'll make sure that whoever works with me…and for me…will have a beneficial life. You won't be sorry if you do wish to do this, but like I said. It's up to you,"

He leaned over a bit now, resting his elbows there on the table and almost like he was trying to look into my now eyes and see what I was thinking. It was almost intimidating, and I felt another wave of nauseousness coming through me again. I held it down there, but I saw Harley shift a bit there behind The Joke now, seeing the face that I flashed for a moment or two before she leaned over to talk into his ear. The Joker turned to listen to her now, his eyes still on me though as I reached over to take another large sip of the water there, in hopes that whatever hit me hard from the sickness went away from a small break there.

Harley was still whispering in his ear now, something that seemed serious there as he held up his one hand then, silencing her and seeing her slowly go back up to her regular spot there and he eyed me again, his look on me was a bit softer then.

"What do ya think?" he asked me, having me feeling a tingling sensation there along my lower stomach, look gin down for a moment and almost having a flutter there. Was it a warning not to do it? I was reminded of Chato, wishing that he was there with me and easing this uneasiness that I was feeling. That flutter was a sign of something there, almost like a warning for me to remember by as I looked back at him now, getting enough courage to tell him what he may not want to hear since I promised Chato I wouldn't let him take me. I had to remember Chato and that one thought of a life together, what we both wanted.

This was not what we wanted.

* * *

"Let me know if you change your mind," The Joker said to me now as I was being escorted out by himself and Harley, along with his henchman that were wrapped around us. I felt at ease that he didn't kill me, but that sense of uncertainty was still there in the sky as we were walking to the black SUV again and I was staying a bit close to Harley then as one of his henchmen opened the door for me.

"Thank you," I thanked him, though it felt odd to thank someone like him. He just smiled, his capped teeth shining in the gray day there as it was no longer pouring rain but sprinkling here and there. One of his henchman who looked like his right-hand man was holding an umbrella over the both of us there and one henchman was holding one over Harley's head there as we were standing outside the vehicle.

"Of course, of course. It's like I said, just a mere talk amongst special people, nothing more or less," He reassured me now as the door was opened for me, "Just give my girl here a ring if you ever wish to come back and chat. I'll be sure to answer right away." I just smiled as I got into the at, The Joker then looked over at Harley, talking to her under this breath and they both were talking together now as I was looking down at my own belly again, thinking that it was almost bizarre how I felt something there shift and turn like it was some kind of sign. I wondered what it would be when I looked up, just in time to see Harley and The Joker kiss. It was a simple one, but I saw the love there.

Harley had it bad, and who could blame her.

"I'm glad you go to meet him," Harley voiced to me as we were driving down the road that was leading me back to my house, my hands folded there in my lap and I nodded in agreement, "Sure he's a bit rough around the edges, but who cares! I think he's the best thing in my life!"

"I'm happy for you, Harley," I said to her now, trying to sound nice about it. Harley looked over at me now, a small smile on her face as she nudged me with her shoulder, seeing that I was in some kind of funk there.

"You know I've missed ya, along with the others back there," Harley explained more sincerely now, "They were a great bunch, and you get to be with them more than me. Not gonna lie, kind of jealous."

"They miss you too, Harley," I said in reassurance, "At least, let them know that you're okay." She saw what I was doing, almost in a way there as we were about to end up in front of my apartment and this would be another ending of a get together with her. I was still trying to get used to her being around The Joker more, wearing regular clothes that best suited her and showed her ranks amongst his army. She was second-in-command, a leader there with or without her own rights excuse of who she was in love with and who gave her power. But I wanted her to know that others beyond the world she was in cared for, even by those who were still rotting away and trying to get their own lives together.

She was cared for by me.

"I'll let them know, trust me doll face," She said in a comforting manner, tapping me on the arm with her own hand there. I knew it was genuine since she could read me like a book better than the others back at the prison. The van pulled to a stop there, having me see my old apartment there in front of me while one of the henchmen got out and opened my door. I eased out, back into the sprinkle of the rain there and the fogginess of the weather. I looked back at the car now as the door closed, seeing Harley roll down the window for me to see her face one last time before she would be gone again. She eyed me, a genuine smile there as she spoke up.

"I'm glad you said no to him," She insisted, having me raise an eyebrow at her.

"What makes you say that?" I asked now, wondering why she would think that when she was the one who wanted me to talk to him in the first place.

"Because it doesn't seem like you anyhow, not that it's a bad thing," She explained, having me feel a twinge of happiness for her for seeing me and how I would be there with them. It wouldn't be a fit anyhow, and she saw that and helped me get out of it. She then motioned to my whole body than with one of her fingers, "Besides, give your circumstances, I couldn't let you go through that."

"What?" I asked her now, not getting her hint as she grinned at me.

"You have a great pregnancy glow about you." She rolled up her window then and the car rolled away, leaving me there in the sprinkling rain. I looked on as she turned the corner, and was one again out of my life as I looked down at my lower stomach though my jacket there. Was she joking? Did she have some kind of inkling as to what was going on with me? I told her nothing, but she saw through it like it was another game to her.

Was she right?

* * *

"We got your blood tests back today," The doctor explained to me since he wanted to see me as soon as I was able to get in contact with him. He left me a voicemail on my phone while I was meeting with The Joker, and before I could even get over to grab my keys and head to the prison to let Chato know how it went, I heard his voicemail saying that it was the top priority for me to meet with him.

Was something wrong there in the blood work?

I was sitting there in his chair as he pulled out the results there, having me see some of his writing there on the top and I wondered what it was saying since I couldn't read that far away.

"From what we read with you blood tests, you are fully clean from those chemicals that were in you seem time ago," He explained, having me sigh in relief since it felt like I was no longer going to be in any kind of danger when it came to my health. At least that was a positive thing that I could get out of this meeting with him.

"You seem healthy enough that we don't have to get an eye on you, though we did see something here as well that we thought would not be possible," He explained to me as I watched him carefully,y wondering what it was now and when I was going to get some kind of break.

"What would that be?" I asked, trying to be polite about it but then hearing the desperation there in my voice since I wondered what else there could be.

"Well, given the fact that were already talking about how your changes of fertility were very slim because of what happened to you and the chemicals that they gave you, but from what we got here, it seems that I was wrong." He explained as my eyes went wide there.

"What?"

"You're pregnant."


	33. Chapter 33

Author's Note: This is all Dibalo's POV. I felt as though I made him a bit sappy in this whole story, so I do apologize. I hope that I made it realistic and less of a romantic love story. Let me know how I"m doing!

And the next chapter will be the last! Get ready for the finale! Leave love in a review!

* * *

Diablo's POV

They're just talkin', I know that they're just talkin' to one another.

But still, talkin' can be deadly.

I waited there, back in my tank again since it felt like I could explode at any moment from the thought of Rose being in the same room as The Joker. It sickened me, made me more worried than angry that something really could happen to her. I knew she could handle herself, I reminded myself that over and over again as the minutes went by, but it was still an itching thought that something could go wrong there while I wasn't there. This was the stupid part of being in this relationship, Rose being out there in the real world and I was still here.

Rotting away until they can let me go.

The rain was no longer hammering the prison, which was a nice change of pace since it brought in a new sense of air there from the stickiness that I was used to. But my tank, my one place that I knew brought me safety when I wasn't doused with water from the guards, that was the only place I knew I wanted to be in until I heard back from Rose. Flag asked if I was sure, having the tank open for me as I was about to stick my head in. I nodded at him slowly, seeing him nod back at me.

"Just let me know when she's back, please." Never thought I would use the "please" work on the guy, let alone any of the guard there. As far as Flag and the others knew, Rose was going on a visit see an old friend that she connected with, not knowing that it was Harley and the Joker. I kept my side of the promise to Rose: I didn't say a word about the meeting. Rose was going to hold her end of the deal: stay alive and get back to me in one piece.

Flag agreed to it as he closed the tank behind me, leaving me there with my peace of mind and my sense of sanctuary. I was left in the darkness, praying to God for the first time in awhile that the minutes would go by faster and bring Rose back in one piece.

What did The Joker want with her? I never met the guy, which was fine by me, but I kind of knew what kind of guy he was: psychotic. He knew how to play other people around like he was a goddamn puppeteer, maybe that' who he got Harley to stick around for so long. Who knew, but I also knew that he was not one to like to be told "no". I was the same way, having power and not being rejected, but his was worse. He would do worse things to those who would look the other way, and I learned my lesson with that. But did he?

There was a tap on my tank door, where I was on my back and looking at the ceiling. I perked my head up, seeing none other than Flag there and he was showing his face there in the window that I had. I looked at him in confusion, preaching myself up and sitting Indian Style again as I saw that he had somewhat a war face on him.

"Is Rose back?" I asked, seeing him shake his head there and I looked at him in more confusion.

"No, but Waller has some news for you."

"You're letting me out?" I was confused as hell as I was sitting in one of her chairs, handcuffed to the arm there and two guards behind me as usual as Waller was holding my file in her hands, a stern look on her face there as if she was swallowing down what she was going to tell me.

"Your sentencing is all done. You're a free man now," She explained to me, almost monotoned now as I sat there and drank it in. It almost felt like this was another joke that she was pulling on me, but the look on her own face was enough to see that she was letting me out.

"You serious?" I asked her, unconvinced and almost thinking that she was going to change her mind within a second. She didn't show any kind of trick there, dead on serious with me as I drank it in with a heavy breath. I was a free man….really a free man.

"You've done your time, worked with Task Force X for enough time to let your sentencing be decreased, and now you have no more time to serve," She explained, but it sounded almost bitter there on her tongue. I knew that she wasn't liking it completely, letting me go and be done with Task Force X. She was losing another piece of her goddamn puzzle that she would love to hold onto for the rest of our lives if she could.

"So…what does that mean for me?" I asked her carefully, thinking that if I was short with her or trying to get myself out before she could tell me anything else now.

"We still will keep an eye on you, you're off the complete hook when it comes to being a free man. If you do one slip up, and we will know if you do, then you come back here to this prison without any hesitation, understand?" She asked me, having me realize that I wasn't completely off the hook. I knew there was going to be a catch there when it came to me, and she wasn't going to let me go completely. But it was better than nothin', and knowing me and what I want with Rose, I wasn't going to go back down that old path that I had in the past.

"Ain't gonna do a thing to get back here," I promised her, almost bitterly there at her since she was hoping that I was going to squirm. She wanted to see me sweat, I knew that since I knew people like her in my past that would trying to make me feel weak and small. It wasn't going to happen with her.

"I'm sure you won't," She said, almost as if she was not convinced herself.

"I mean it," I erased her, my voice was low now as she got up and walked over to one of the files that were tucked in the corner opening it and looking inside while I was still there.

"I hear that from a lot of guys like you, saying that they won't come back but they will," She explained as she was still not looking at me but looking through the files nonchalantly, "But I'll take it to exception with you…given your track record and how you turned yourself in freely."

"You think I'll be a gang member again?" I asked her now, but it sounded more like a statement. She paused, just for a brief second before she kept going and looked at one particular file there with her eyes.

"Call me crazy, but I don't let people go easily," She explained, having me really wish that I could just smoke her there for her thinking that I wasn't going to pull through on this new life that she handed to me like some kind of peace offering. No wonder she didn't have any real friends, she was a pistol herself.

"Just like you not letting go of Rose," I voiced, hearing her not say and word. Waller paused there, not moving and I heard a bit of shuffle there behind me with her guards. Dammit, I overstepped something, just mentioning Rose to her, and now I was going to be in hot water. Did she care about Rose? I thought she did if she was keeping her around under her own radar and still having her work for her even though she was a free woman.

She looked over at me now, a low look on her face as if she was sizing me up and down now, walking over slowly to me now and standing right behind her desk, already looking too tall for me taste as I was sitting her, lower than her and waiting to hear what she had to say.

"You're right, Diablo. I haven't let of Rose just yet, and I'm assuming you want to know why." She said in a calm manner now, but it felt like there was the calm before the storm. I stayed quiet and not moved an inch now as she looked down, slowly sinking back to her chair and take in her own deep breath.

"She was brought into this prison over 6 years ago with no prison record on her, merely because she was a metahuman and society didn't want her around. I saw potential in her, and danger," She explained to me as she folded her fingers there on the desk, "There are going to be people out there, whether she's ready for it or not, that are going to see her as a weapon and a dangerous weapon merely because of what she has under her skin."

"You don't think she can handle herself?" I asked her, seeing her crack a small smile here from what I asked her, "I've seen her take out plenty of guys with a swing of her hand."

"That's not what I'm scared of," She said to me, "I know she can take down a tank if she could. It's the thought of others seeing her as the monster, as someone to be feared. You know Rose, Diablo. That's the last thing that she wants others to see her,"

I stayed quiet, knowing that Waller was right. Rose was a person that just wanted to be accepted by people, to not live in the dark and to hide out because of what she was. She had to do it with her father, she didn't want to do it again with everyone else to the world.

Rose wanted normalcy.

"I'm still keeping an eye on her because I know how this world works with those who are special and not belonging anywhere else. She doesn't belong anywhere else," She explained to me, though now it felt like she was making Rose sound less of a person than who she was. Was Waller trying to hold her back, in which I raised an eyebrow at her now and wondering if I should jab at her back again?

"She belongs here?" I asked her with a shrug of my shoulders, "With you and Flag within her own cage? Sounds like you don't have faith in her."

"And you do?" She asked me, almost trying to pick me now and see what I was going to do.

"I do," I said without missing a beat, "More than you do apparently." She stayed quiet as I said that, thinking that I said more than I should with her now as she breathed out slowly and looking down at her hands against the desk, now rethinking of what she was going to tell me then. But I felt like she was saying things about Rose what not true and she was making her seem less than who she was.

Rose was no little girl. She was a grown ass woman, and I wasn't let her get viewed like a girl by Waller.

"I can see that you care about her," Waller stated to me simply, having me not move to at all now since she eyed me then, once again placing me in my spot.

"What if I do?" I asked her back, wanting to hear how she really felt about it. Did she not want that, not having the piece of Rose's life in her control? It felt like it, almost like her power was slipping and she was not a big fan of that. She said nothing, still thinking about it and then sighing.

"It's not my business to know something like that," She stated, "I'll get you get your things and I"ll finish your paperwork so you can go," One of the guards walked over to uncuff me from the chat, having me get up and following him out without looking back at her now as I was about to have that new taste of freedom, permanently.

I didn't know the whole story with this Waller chick, but it rubbed me the wrong way that she would think Rose couldn't take care of herself now. I wanted Rose to prove her wrong, blow her out of the water with what she could do. We both were getting out of this hell hole, and I would make sure that I wasn't going to end up back here for the rest of my life.

I'll be damned if I go back.

* * *

A Few Hours Later

"Stay classy, ese," Boomerang said to me as they were saying goodbye to me from the meeting room that we wherein together. After I talked to Waller, the other guys in the Squad got wind and they wanted to send me off on a good note.

"Thanks, man," I said to him now as he clasped me there on the shoulder, a small smile on my lips there.

"Let me know how the real world treats ya, eh mate?" He asked me, having me chuckle and nod my head at him.

"Sure thing, homie," I replied as Croc eyed me next to Boomerang and nodded at my slowly.

"Stay classy, shorty." He only said that to me, in which was enough for me to smile back at him and nod at him once. He gave me a short smile, in which Deadshot finally spoke up.

"So, you gonna shack up with Rose?" He asked, not as a tease but as a casual manner.

"Yeah. For now, until we can get out own place," I explained, seeing him then give me a genuine smile, which was rare for someone like him. He held out his hand for me to shake, and I took it within a second.

"Take care of each other out there, okay man?" He asked me, "You know how the world is out there for people like us. Don't let me down on that one."

"I won't, man. I won't."

* * *

I walked out of the prison, seeing the high fences behind me as I held the one bag that I had all my things ins and seeing none other than Rose there in front of me with a small smile there on her face. After Waller signed off on my papers and got things ready for me to head out not the world. No more prison, no more being in a cell for so many hours in a day and looking at my tank. It felt odd since I was the one that wanted to come here willingly in the first place and now I was leaving it. I felt a bit nervous about it since the real world still seemed a bit out of place for me anyhow.

But I had Rose.

"Hey you," Rose said to me, her usual statement that she would tell me as I grinned at him, walking right up to her and dropping the bag on the floor to wrap my arms around her to hold her close. I had the freedom to do this now, without a soldier behind me to see if I was going to kill her or an ankle bracelet beeping away at me to remind me what I was to them. No, I was a free man, and I was hugging this woman nice and close now and having a sense of fresh air.

I liked this taste of freedom so far.

* * *

"How did it go?" After moving into her place, I wanted to know what happened with Rose and her talk with The Joker. It was itching away with me, wanting me to have the right time to ask her. But now that we were settled in and sitting on the bed, facing each other, I could see her thinking about it and she looked off with her thoughts.

"He wanted me to work for him…or with him…I don't even know which," She explained softly as I took her hands in my own to hold them there, feeling how cool her skin was, "He seemed….calm when he talked to me."

"Calm?" I asked now in confusion.

"Not crazy like I thought he would…but I was still worried about it," Rose answered, "Anyway, I told him no. Harley was there and…believe it or not… she was glad I didn't say yes."

"Doesn't sound like her at all," I voice my opinion, seeing her slowly nod her head as she was watching me for my reaction about the whole thing.

"Yeah, she was looking out for me since she found out…" She stopped, almost in mid-thought now as I looked at her with a intrigued look. She was about to say something but she stopped herself. She knew something, and she was trying to avoid it maybe.

"What?" I asked her, squeezing our hands gently there and she took in a shaky breath which made me panic a wrong, "What's wrong?"

"I…I saw the doctor today," She stated to me, having me worry a bit now that something was wrong with her. Was she sick? Did they find something? She saw the look on my face and she shook her head.

"Nothing bad, Chato. I promise it's nothing bad," She reassured me as she massaged my hands there, "It's…it's something else that came up." I said nothing, not getting what she was saying as she then moved one of her hands away and reached into her back pocket for something there, her hand was almost shaking there. She was nervous about something, beyond nervous and it was getting me a bit nervous too.

Rose pulled a folded piece of paper out from her back pocket and placed it there in my hand, not saying a word or two as I looked down at the paper. What was she doing? I looked at her now, giving her a serious look as she smiled.

"Open it," She said gently, urging me as I moved my other hand from hers and slowly reach down to open the paper. Once I did, I was looking at something that I never thought I would look at at all. It threw me for a loop, a big one since at first I didn't know what I was seeing, not then I clicked in my head.

She was pregnant.

I shot a look at her, and she was watching me for my reaction. I knew this was something that she wanted, maybe not right now but far in the future with just the two of us. I wanted this too, I really did, and it was a thought that we both had to share that it might not happen to the both of us at all. I was fine with me, and so was she. But now, it was the reality that she was pregnant, that it was real and she was waiting for my own reaction, that I had to show her how I felt about it. Was I nervous? Was I panicking? Was I angry? None of those.

I leaned in and kissed her sweetly.

She was taken back by it, almost thrown off by my own reaction to hearing about her being pregnant, but she stayed still as I framed her face and the picture fell down between us on the bed. I wanted this, and for me not to say anything felt wrong so I had to show her how I was feeling. The future that I wanted with her was closer than I thought and a bit brighter too as she kissed me back and had the torching fire within my belly get higher from just her lips.

I pulled away from her, seeing her watch me with her bright gorgeous green eyes, and they looked brighter from our kiss there.

"You're not….you're not angry?" She asked me sheepishly as I shook my head, my hands there on his face moved down to her neck there to touch her soft skin.

"Why would I be? This is what we wanted," I reminded her with my own smile on my face, "I guess that doctor guy was wrong huh?" She grinned from each to each now as I licked my lips and gave her one more kiss to seal that joy that I was feeling and now bursting in how she wanted.

"Please tell me you still want this too?" I asked her, not wanting to sound desperate since wanting to know how she was feeling with the look there on her face. She looked like she was about to cry, and I hoped it was a good thing now as she nodded her head and a big grin was on her face. That almost broke my heart, seeing how happy she was from seeing me so happy with this news.

"I want this," She answered, reaching down and placing one of her hands on her lower stomach there and I looked too. I couldn't help but place one of my hands there too, feeling her smooth belly underneath her shirt that she was wearing, "I want this with you, Chato."

This had to be one of my best days of my life: being let out of prison, moving in with the love of my life, and finding out we were going to grow as a family.

For the first time in a long time, I was glad where I was.


	34. Epilogue Part One

Author's Note: I'll do a two part epilogue for you guys since you're so keen to have this story keep going. I want to end it on a good note. Thanks for the constant support throughout this story, I didn't think I would hit over 100 reviews! You guys are amazing and supportive!

* * *

2 months later

"Here you are," I walked into the new little house that we bought with the money I had left over, a small little area outside of San Francisco, away from the main city and its population. We both figured that we were safer without being surrounded by humans and having nosy eyes and faces. It was perfect, and we both wanted to get away from New Orleans and the Prison as much as we could.

"Perfect size for a growing family, and plenty of work that can be done both on the inside and the outside too. It's one of our newer models," The realtor explained to me as I looked around and placed my hands in my leather jacket to keep int he warmth. It was cooler weather, the crisp air from the bay was coming through the forest that we were surrounded in. I looked over to the door, Chato poking his head in and looking around.

Since we both were free from the prison, Chato was more resistant to being out in public. He was worried that the gang members from his past gang that he used to be in got the word and come after him, after us. He was more introverted than I gave him credit for, wanting to be alone most days. But he was fine some of the time going out and around with me, covering more of his tattoos on his chests and arms with jackets and long sleeved shirts while we were out and about. He was working on it. It was same here, with us buying this house and talking to the realtor. Of course, he was going to get heads turned over to him, which his skull tattoo and all.

Still, he was a good sport.

"What do you think?" I asked him, seeing him look around the place with some hesitation there.

"It's nice," he replied, almost a bit shortly now as he was observing. The realtor looked at me now, almost as if she wanted some help with the translation.

"We both came from a tight living space," I explained to her, "Small and uncomfortable. This is very new to us."

"Oh, I see," She replied back to me, "Well, there is a fantastic furniture store down the street as well as a grocery store and other shops. You guys will love it here, it's a great neighborhood for a new young family,"

"Thanks," I thanked her. After hearing her last spell about calling her fi we needed anything, she left us there in our own little house. After we heard the car drive off, I saw Chato looking out the window, having me walk over there too to see what he was seeing. We had tall trees, tall and green that were covering us in peace and solitude. I rested my hand there on his arm, soothing him over and over with my thumb there against his shirt that he was wearing.

"You still want to do this?" I asked him, feeling as though he was not telling me all he wanted to. I felt like I was the one doing most of the choices here, and that was terrible on my part. He looked over at me, seeing the hesitance there on my face. He touched my hand there on his arm, a soft smile there on his face.

"Yeah, this is where I wanna be," He reassured me calmly. I smiled at him.

"I know it's not city life," I teased, "We can check and see what kind of gangs are around here if you want."

"I think a slower life for me is better," He reaffirmed me, having me grin at him now and he looked out the window again, the both of us did as I breathed out slowly. It had to start with a new place, not telling anyone else about it, not even the Squad. It felt as though it had to be that way, the both of us starting fresh in a new place, almost a new world really.

"For starters, we need some color in this room," I said to him as I looked at the living room, seeing him look too in amusement.

"Oh really?" he asked me.

"Yeah, some dark colors. We can fill the whole place with pictures of diamonds and skulls, make it real home-like," I joked as I walked over to the middle where the hardwood floor was ringing from my boots as I walked. Chato chuckled and walked over too.

"We can get a huge Skull mural right over here," He added, pointing to the wall on the left.

"How big?" I had to ask.

"It'll take up the whole wall," He answered, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me close to him. I hugged him back and breathed him in, the small scent of Old Spice and a breath of fire on his as I could feel the small bump that was already forming and nesting between us.

"We're gonna make this work, _Mi Amor_ ," He said into my hair as we hugged there in the middle of the room.

"I know we will, _Chere,_ " I said back to him against his shirt, "We will."

* * *

3 months later

"In here, Inmate."

He walked in, looking disheveled and out of place as he was being handled in by one of the guards there, guiding him by the arm and he looked at them bitterly before he locked eyes with me now. Eyes were wide, his jaw almost slack there as I sat at the table and watched his every move and he was placed down in the chair across from me. the guard standing behind him now with his gun there within his hands as I watched the man in front of me. He was scruffy there on his beard, his hair looked greasy and unkept there pushed to the side as I found my voice now, having me sound a bit low and raspy there.

"Hello, dad."

"Rose…" he trailed off, not knowing what else to say there to me now as I was sitting there,e upright and looking polite and poised as he was slacked in the chair and handcuffed to the table there, his hands were stuck to the table with nowhere else to go. He looked the same since I saw him five years ago, almost the same with his age there on his face and within his skin there along his arms. His face was on my mind for the past 6 years, the constant nightmares and the thought of hearing him scream in the back of my mind were now coming to a head now as I watched him carefully.

"What are…what are you doin' here?" He asked me in a low manner, having me tilt my head at him now since he would ask so an obvious question.

"You expected me to be locked up?" I asked him, keeping my voice in an even tone there and he went quiet, looking right at me and seeing all of me there in front of him, "They gave me your information, just for the sake me of knowing how my own father is fucking up his own life."

"Aren't they nice enough to do somethin' like that," He replied cooly now, having me clench my jaw there in hopes that I can go through this conversation without him without killing him.

"So," He said eyeing me with an obvious stare, "You seem to be doin' fine for yourself. Looks like they took real good care of you back at the prison." Someone moved behind me, having my dad look past me now and I saw his eyes going wide now from who he was seeing behind me. I didn't have to look to know who it was, and I kept my eyes on my dad now as he shifted uncomfortably in his spot.

"This is Chato," I introduced him to Chato now as he looked back at me from seeing Chato behind me, "He's my boyfriend and not a real big fan of men who degrade and mistreat women. Fair warning," My dad gulped now, looking right at me now.

"You sure know how to pick 'em," He jabbed at me with his thick accent and words.

"And you sure know how to treat 'em," I snarled back, seeing him silent there as I was thinking once again as to why I was there in the first place. I had questions for him, plenty of them for the sake of wanting to talk with him instead of yelling at him.

This time, I wasn't afraid of him, nor was I going to be.

"Why did you hate me?" I asked him the one question that I ever wanted to ask him and get out of him before something would happen to either one of us. But all of these years came and went and I still had no real reason from him as to why he would inflict that shame and hate on me, his own daughter. He eyed me then, having me see one again the hate there in his eyes now as he finally spoke up.

"Because you weren't the daughter that I wanted," He replied as if it was a casual answer there. It would cut me deep if it was in the past and I was still young enough to think that it would affect my life. But since I was no longer down that road, and I had my own shield of armor around me that was enough to get me through the day, I just stared at him now and I could see he was waiting for my own reaction.

"At the time you were born, metahumans were seen as dangerous, lethal weapons that should be feared. They were all over the news, the ones that we were supposed to like and the ones we were supposed to hate. When I found out that my one child was one of them, one of those weapons, it sure did make see fatherhood differently." He explained to me carefully now as he tapped his foot there along the ground and I kept still.

"You still think metahumans are dangerous?" I asked him, seeing a small smirk there on his face as I placed my hands there on the tables, they both were slowly going into their diamond forms now, my dad looking down at my hands there,e his eyes going wide now as I just kept my hands there in their diamond form.

"Well?" I asked him, having him snap his head back to me now and he was still looking out of it from what he saw his own daughter now. He said nothing now as I folded my diamond hands there in front of him with another question.

"Why did you do it to mom?" I asked him now, feeling another question that needed to be said to him about my own mother. I never wanted to bring her up, not at first when I was thinking about visiting him. However, since she was the rare light I had in my past and with how I was growing up, I really had to know.

"Why did you kill her?"

"When did you hear that bullshit?" He asked me now as I grabbed my purse there on the floor, the newspaper clipping that I found, placing it there on the table for him to look at and remember. It made me sit there for a moment or two now before I spoke up again.

"Two months after I got locked up, thanks to you. I found this though a few friends and a few strings that were pulled," I explained to him as he was looking at the newspaper clipping, his eyes scanning from word to word. I waited, hoping that it would sink in now as I felt another wave of anger there that was wishing would come out to unleash on him.

"You didn't think I would find out?" I asked him, saying as calm as I could now he looked up at me now, "You figured you got rid of the both of us, and yet you're here in prison."

"Surprised that you're talking to me that way," He said in a lower manner now as I eyed him, my stiff sitting position there lurched forward a bit now as I gave him the coldest stare that I could.

"You're not my father. You said so yourself when I was a little girl, so don't try to act like one now," I advised him, seeing the small glimpse of hope that he had to win over this conversation flat away within an instant now as he was cold at me again.

"Why are you here then?" He asked, flexing his fingers there along the top of the table and I leaned back a bit, tapping m own feet against the ground and my diamond finger was tracing the top of the newspaper clipping.

"I'm here to let you know about my life and what I'll be doing," I replied to him simply, keeping my voice sounding as calm as I could, "I'm gonna be moving out and away from you, where you can't find me. I'm going to be using that money that you tried to take from me and get myself a nice house, and I'm going to be able to have the kind of life that you robbed me from," He sat there, not saying a word as I went on.

"If you get out of this prison, which I doubt they ever will since I know people in the government that can keep your sorry ass here until the day you die, I would advise you never to find me, get in contact with me or anything else in that nature. Because if you do," I felt my own form coming all over me then as the emotions that I was feeling was taking over for the mere moment. I was in my full form in front of him, seeing him almost quiver there in a second from seeing me.

"You find me, and I will kill you."

He said nothing, looking at me up and down as if he was not believing what he was seeing, But I kept my stare right at him now, keeping my tense stare at him. He had to know that he had no real hold over me anymore, he had to see that. He had to know that I was no longer going to be his victim, and I wasn't going to let him win over my anymore.

"Are we clear?" I asked him, seeing look right at me now and something was about to flicker in him, another wave of anger that he was going to try to inflict on me. It was the same when I was a little girl and he would hover over and use a fist, but this time, I was the one with the fist.

"You bitch," He snarled, about to get up even with the cuffs still against the table, but both Chato and the guards moved over to stop him from making another move. I stayed still, watching him and seeing that he was no longer going to do anything to me and he knew that too. He saw that he lost this battle, there was no way that he was going to win.

"Say that again to me, I dare you," I wanted him now, seeing him get back down in his chair again and I smirked at him, still being a diamond in front of him now as I was slowly morphed back to normal. I was no longer in need of being there with him, to see his face and be plagued by the scars he gave me both physical and emotional.

"Have a nice time rotting away in here," I said to him now, leaving the clipping there for him to look at as I got up, though his eyes now over to my slightly swollen stomach. Chato walked over to me, taking my hand in his now as we were about to walk out of his life forever. I didn't want to see him, or hear his voice, ever again. As we walked out the door, Chato squeezing my hand for dear life and hearing the door close behind us.

He was gone.

* * *

2 months later

"Jesus Christ I'm huge!"

"Naw, you're not huge."

"You're just saying that to get on my good side,"

"Ehh….yes and no."

"You're no help," I was looking at my enormous belly there while I was sitting on the bed, not being able to move in that moment and seeing my reflection in the mirror. My hair was in a braid down the side, I was propped up by too many pillows and my belly was beyond swollen to the point of it being hard for me to move a little bit. Chato chuckled as he was moving over to out nightstand to get a shirt on and I was tapping my fingers there on the top of my belly.

"What did Harley tell ya to do? Positive talk!" Chao reminded me there with his positive tone as he grabbed one of his hits to throw it on.

"Harley's never been pregnant, _Chere_ ," I argued with him, though he gave me a kind look.

"True, but she knows how to make someone feel better," He argued with me as he walked over to my side of the bed, sitting on the edge and still giving me that look of pure love and adoration. How he could see that in me while I was the size of a tank was beyond me.

"What does it feel like?" he asked me, pressing his hand gently on the side of my belly and I could hear the warmth there along his palm. I just wanted to take that picture, of him close enough to press his hand on my belly and not be freaked out or weird about it and keep it in my mind forever.

"Kind of like that feeling you get when you're in free fall, but all the time," I explained, seeing a small smile etched there from how I described. I leaned my head back now, the pain in my lower back was back and I squinted it out. That was the other thing that I hated about this, the pain. Though I could take a bullet between my eyes, the pain that my child was giving me was enough to have me squirm.

"Here, scoot up a bit," I felt Chato move over to the other side of the bed and then behind me against the headboard. He placed both of his hands on my arms, leaning me back against him and I could feel his chest against my back. The heat started to simmer against my back, making it soothing for me and I breathed out in relief.

"Your child is making it hard to breathe," I reminded him, hearing him chuckle and I could feel it down my spine as he rubbed my arms and shoulders softly.

"I thought you could take a bullet," He joked.

"Well, who knew a child can bring me pain," I joked back with him with a smile, looking down at my belly and rubbing my fingers there at least to soothe the baby. I read about it in one of the plenty of baby books Harley got Chato and me once I officially told her. She didn't tell Joker, but she did help out with her own money, as well as the others in the Squad.

"The doctor asked if we wanted to know if it's a boy or girl," I said to him softly, hearing nothing from him now as I thought about it for a moment before I went on, "I told him to surprise us."

"You don't wanna know?" Chato asked as I craned my neck to look at his face, seeing the tattoos on his face in the light.

"Don't you?" I asked.

"Not really," He replied, having me look down and across the way over to the window in our apartment that was showing the garden that was outside. It was soothing, the rays of the sunset light were seeping into our room.

"If it's a girl, we're gonna name her Mary," I explained to him, hearing him hum in agreement.

"I like that, it's a pretty name," He agreed, "What about a boy?"

"Didn't think that far ahead," I answered, "We'll think of a good one if it is a boy." We both went back into a silence again now, having me think of the months that we had left before we would be parents. It felt like we were and we weren't ready, both at the same time. Being parents, it was what we wanted, and what we thought was going to be our future, and now it was a reality.

I was too lost in my thought to see the small piece of jewelry that Chato had in his hand, holding it out right in front of me and almost on top of my belly. It was a simple ring, but there was just one diamond there on the top as I was watching ti with wide eyes that were almost filled with tears. I never thought he would want to marry me, or at least marry again. It was another commitment in itself, we both are connected to just being together.

"Marry me, _Mi Amor_ " He whispered into my hair, having me grin at I reached out and touched the ring. He placed it on my finger so gently that it felt like a feather touch, in which I touched his fingers and kissed each of them.

"As if you had to ask me, Chere."


	35. Epilogue Part Two

"Is that normal, to look…like a balloon?"

"I'm not a balloon."

"Naw, you're more like a planet, Shelia."

"Shut your mouth, Boomerang."

"Sorry, mate."

I was currently Skyping with the rest of the Squad since I was too big and far along in my pregnancy to fly out and visit them. It was getting to the point of needing help up and down the stairs of the house and even sitting down was a challenge. Chato was in the kitchen, making dinner for the both of us as I was having the group there on their end of the Skype session. It was getting early in the evening for the both of us and it was getting cooler in the nights and the mornings, perfect for Chato to bundle up and we could go out into the world more often. We were still getting sued to the solitude, but it was what we both needed.

"Honestly, though, you're about to pop," Deadshot said to me with a smirk as I saw his face there on the screen, It was already shocking that Waller would let them Skype with me since I was so close to my due date. She was still amazing me with her complex personality and with how she was still keeping tabs on me. It was both a blessing and a curse.

"Yeah well, I still have another week or so before I'm due," I explained to the men there on the screen, "The doctor recommended that after a few more days, they'll take me in to get induced."

"I thought you guys were going to do that whole…water birth thingy," Boomerang commented as I shook my head for him to see.

"Going into the hospital is better and healthier anyhow," I explained to him, "I got Chato on board with that one, even though it was more tooth and nail."

"Thanks for lettin' them know that, honey," Chato said over his shoulder as he was still cooking our dinner.

"Of course, sweetheart," I teased back at him, looking back at the screen there and seeing the men there smirking and looking like they are about to take the both of us with our banters, "Where's Croc and Katana?"

"Katana's working on something like Flag and Croc's back in his cell," Deadshot explained to me as he was back in his orange jumpsuit as well as Boomerang, but they didn't seem to mind it at this point, "But Flag is here actually, with a rifle pointed at the both of our heads."

"Heya Rose, heya Chato!" I could hear Flag called out a hello from off screen.

"Hello Flag," I said back to him now, glad to hear his voice again there though I could not see his face.

"So, you too like livin' out there in the middle of nowhere?" Deadshot asked me, this time, it was not like a tease but it was more like a genius question.

"Eh, we got used to it fast, but we like it," I said to him now as I rested my hands on the top of my belly, "There's way more room for us to move around here. We have our whole place ready for the baby, and you guys would be proud. We have a skull mural at the top of the stairs on the wall,"

"Ah shit, look at you two being all domestic," Deadshot said with a chuckle, "I take it you guys are using our gifts too? Don't think it was just Harley that was helping ya'll out."

"Of course we are," I reassured him as I heard Chato getting the plates ready behind me by the counter, "I'm sure that the baby unicorn will be used greatly by the baby,"

"Perfect," Boomerang said with his toothy grin.

"And thank you for the crib, Deadshot. Was it hard to find one that didn't have gunshot holes there?" I asked Deadshot now with a smirk there, seeing him roll his eyes.

"Be nice, Talbert," He said in a playful wanting, "After the baby's born, ya'll should come out and we can meet him or her." I paused after he said that, thinking to myself and then slowly looking over my shoulder at Chato now, seeing him watch me too now with uneasiness there on his face. This was the hard part about this whole thing.

We were trying to let them go, or most of them go.

Chato and I both knew that after we had our baby, things were both going to be uneasy and complicated, especially to the others back at the prison. But it wasn't the others really, it was Waller herself. Chato explained to me something that Waller told him on the day he was released, which made me look at her now in a shady manner. She was still going to try and keep tabs on me, whether I knew it or not because she knew that I was going to have a rough life there in the world because of what I was. She didn't trust me being on my own, and it made me afraid that she was going to maybe step in someone after the baby came. She could do that, we both knew that for sure. So we had to make sure that we weren't going to cross paths with her again.

"Can Waller hear in on the conversation?" I asked Deadshot now, seeing him give me hesitated look there before he looked off screen, maybe at Flag for some kind of answer before he looked back at me, shaking his head. I had to trust him, both him along with Boomerang and Flag in the room.

"I don't think we can come around to the prison," I said to him now in a low tone, almost being afraid to tell him.

"Why not?" Boomerang asked, not getting where I was going with this talk, having me take a deep breath as I was trying to find the right way to say it for the both of them to got get offended. It was hard since I consider all three of them friends and close allies, but Waller not so much. Deadshot could see it on my face, he leaned in a bit now as I was thinking to himself, having me think that he was actually there.

"Don't let Waller keep you from comin' back and seeing us, okay?" He asked me now, and I felt like he was being that father figured that I needed. He kind of was, looking out for me at times on the missions and letting me know that I wasn't a bad guy. He was a good compass for me, something that I needed since my now father was not going to fit the bill at all.

"Yeah, you need to bring the wee one around!" Boomerang encouraged me now as he could see it on my face too. Neither one of them were worried about Waller, they never were since I met them. I felt a bit better about it, though the dangerous thought of Chato and I bringing our child back to the prison was bad enough to give me nightmares. Waller was both an ally and an enemy at the same time, and I was wondering which one she was going to be as soon we were going to be parents.

"I would wanna meet the kid too…..along with June. June's great with kids, by the way, if ya'll need a babysitter." Flag said off the screen, having me grin now from hearing Flag butt in on the conversation.

"I hear Katana's been itching to have a wee apprentice to teach, maybe it'll be yours?" Boomerang suggested, also trying to bring me up again. I was about to answer them all back when I felt a twinge of pain there in my lower stomach. having me stop and look down there at my belly. I thought at first it was in my head, waiting for a moment or two and not moving at all. Was it what I thought it was going to be? It almost scared me a bit as I was hoping that it wasn't since I was not even close to being ready.

"Oi, Rose?" Boomerang asked now, having me forget that I was still Skyping with Boomerang, Flag, and Deadshot. I slowly looked up at them now, seeing they all three of them were now looking at me now with a hint of concern there on their faces.

"What happened?" Deadshot asked, having me lose my own tone of voice for a moment or two before I could find it again now. I only wondered if I was wrong that this was just another hiccup.

"It's nothing," I said to them all in reassurance now, but the pain was now back there within a second, along with a sudden feeling of water there on the floor between legs. I squinted, clutching the table there and I gasped out.

My water broke.

"Rose," Flag said on the screen now as I heard something from the island counter clutter there on the surface, then feet jogging over to me and two of his hands were on my arms, holding me steady there as I was starting to breathe slowly and fully.

"My water broke," I said to Chato now in a panic. I looked over at him, seeing him watch me carefully and with a hint of fear there, but he was trying too hard to stay calm for the both of us as he got into father mode.

"Let's get to the hospital," Chato reassured me as he grasped my hands and got me up from the chair there.

"Oi, what's going on?!" Boomerang asked from the computer as I was holding onto the chair while Chato was grabbing the bag we already had ready to go along with my jacket.

"She's going to labor, dumb ass," Chato said to him in a grunt as he helped me get my jacket on.

"You guys need us there?" Deadshot asked as I got the jacket on and still tried to breathe in and out now deeply, trying to keep my own head straight there and looking over at the screen there now. All three of them looked like they were about to be dads themselves, which only Deadshot knew what it was like since he was a father. But they were panicking like they were the father.

"You guys can't get out here anyhow. Waller won't let you," I said to them now as Chato walked over and grabbed my hand there, "Chato will call you and give you updates."

"Waller's not gonna stop us from coming, Rose," Deadshot reassured me as I looked over at him.

"That's a fat chance."

* * *

12 hours later.

Labor was actual hell, and I thought I was going to be ripped apart from limb to limb, and it was unbearable for me to just be able to breathe as more and more pain was going up and down my spine. If a bullet was almost like a scrape against my skin, then childbirth was more of a real bullet that could really pierce me.

But Chato almost had a panic attack.

I felt him clutching my hand there through every contraction, through with every piercing scream that I could give out, I thought he would panic. The poor nurses were already intimidated by him from his tattoos, but that was changed when he was showing the true nature of a nervous and panicking first-time father, making sure that I was okay and not leaving my side. I was worried for him and his emotions were going to get the best of him, almost setting the whole room on fire every once in awhile with how he was looking at me. But he was hanging through with it, staying close enough to me, moving the hair from my eyes and giving me reassuring words and calming sense while I was just trying to breathe.

But it was all over, and we had our baby girl named Mary Grace Santana.

She was so beautiful, beyond beautiful to the point of having me in tears from her in my arms and after I was cleaned up. All of the pain and pushing and agony and long hours was now worth it, seeing her in my arms bundled up and looking right at me with her big eyes. It felt so unreal, seeing her there and not finding myself a mother. I never thought I would be a mother, it was not part of my real plan for my life, and just seeing her there swaddled up tight and tears coming down my face was enough for me to be thankful that I was a mother now.

She was mine, mine and Chato's, who was watching me with my moment with her before I looked up at him now in wonder. I could tell he wanted to hold her, but something was holding her back and making him stop from just taking her in his arms.

"What if I…what if she doesn't like me?" He asked me, concern on his face as I looked at him now in confusion. At first, I didn't get it, why he would ask something like that when he was beyond ready to see her and ready to be a father to her. But then, I slowly realized, he was nervous for scaring her because of how he looked. It hit him now that he might scare her, but I didn't see that in him. I didn't seem as the ex-gang member or the ex-villain that he was in the past: he was my fiancé and the love of my life.

"She'll love you," I reassured him, slowly seeing him then scoop her in his arms and holding her with hesitance, waiting to see her reaction to him. It was like he was about to see what kind of father she was going to see him as, and as I watched him now in interest, I could see her eyes going a big bigger now and she had a smile on her face. It made me look at Chato, seeing him slowly smile widely at his daughter, almost on the brink of tears himself as I reached over to rub his side there since he was still so close to me.

"Told you, you sap," I joked, seeing him look down at me with his smile as our daughter gurgled in his hands.

"Shut up."

* * *

"Would ya look at her. She's a beauty," The three people I never thought I would see came to the hospital some time after we got Mary cleaned up and back with Chato, who was not giving her up for a solid moment unless it was needed. I was given some time to rest there as Deadshot, Boomerang and Flag were not in the room, looking at the little girl that Chato was holding and they were beaming like proud family members. It was a shock that they were here, once again another moment that Flag gave them without telling Waller a single thing. Apparently, after we walked out of the door and on the way to the hospital, they three of them hopped on not of the choppers and made her way over here, and Deadshot was keeping tabs for Harley. That was fine for me since I kind of wished that she was there throughout the whole process.

"Never took ya as the daddy type anyhow, _ese_. Congrats!" Deadshot said in a grin to Chato now as I grinned, seeing four full grown men that talking all around a baby, it was almost hilarious. But it also named my heart a bit now as Chato was still cradling our daughter close to him.

"Thanks, man," Chato said to him as my phone was ringing there on the side of the bed, having me reach over to tap it and see the text there. It was some Harley, which made me give a small laugh there:

 _Hope ya feeling' great, momma! Let me see some pictures and I can spoil her rotten. Miss ya!_

 _Say hi to the flame boy,_

 _Harley_

I looked up from the phone there and I saw Chato leaned down to kiss Mary's head as he was talking to the rest of the guys. I sighed in content, back in my bed there as I watched him, feeling the warmth of love coming over me again from just seeing him. He was going to be a great father, he already was in my eyes, and we both were wanting this. It's been a long time coming for the both of us to get to this point, to a new kind of life that we both were living and wanting to live.

This was a great start.

* * *

3 Years Later

"Daddy! Catch me daddy!"

I looked up from the package that I saw there on the table that we had delivered to our house, see the familiar look of our backyard that was surrounded by trees the image of my husband and my daughter running together along the green grass, it made me beam. I could see the war brown hair flying in the wind with the running of her feet and her arms pumping as she went, Chato right behind her as he scooped her in his arms.

 _"Te tengo, mi amor."_

Mary was the best thing that had in our lives, really reminded me of my mother and in how she was so kind, even as a baby. For once, as I knew I was going to be biased, she was beautiful. She had a mixture of brown and hazel eyes, just as warm as her father eyes but they were greener like my own. Her hair was light and warm, thick and long as she was getting bigger and bigger.

We had a normal life with her, as normal as we could get. Some of her clothing included dresses, and other included punk rock shirts and skill pants. Both of which she would look radiant in, and she adored really. Chato was the best father with her, helping out when she was still an infant with feeding her and helping her go to sleep. HIs biggest fear was his powers overtaking him when she was close by, but he knew what to do and was stronger than he gave himself credit for. I loved seeing him with her, though from time tot me I would have to have my own time with her.

She never saw us as anything less than my parents, though her parents both had tattoos and were a bit rough around the edges. Chato was more petrified about it, taking her to the preschool when it was his turn and then picking her up. But Mary loved him, tugging on his hand when we would go on walks and giving him kisses when he wasn't looking. She was another person that would bring him back from the guilt that he would have from time to time. I was beyond blessed for her, thinking that I didn't deserve her at all. Chato and I didn't.

Even with the thoughts of the Suicide Squad in the past, no longer helping them out on missions since we were too engrossed with Mary. But we still kept in touch with the others in the group, and they were still keeping in touch with us as well. The only one that we hardly talked to was Waller, and we wanted it that way. Since Mary came to the picture, Waller was slowly moving out of it since she was more dangerous than anything.

I looked at my husband there, thinking back to when I saw him at the first time some time ago. That first moment of him in his orange prison suit and handcuffs in front of him and his eyes on me as he walked. I never thought from that one look, that things would change. It was amazing that I fell for someone like him, and yet he fell for me too. I didn't know if I was going to call it destiny, or a simple act of fate, but it wasn't for the Suicide Squad, maybe Chato and I wouldn't have been together and had this great life.

It was a blessing now. I had to admit it.

"Come on, _mi armor_. Let's go help your momma with dinner," I heard Chato said to our daughter as I looked down at the package again, seeing some sketchy handwriting on the top and I wondered why I was getting this now. Felt I felt a kiss being snuck there along my neck and another pair of hands wrapped around my legs there, having me chuckle and look over at Chato there as he was very close to me.

"Hello beautiful," he said to me with a small grin as I kissed him square on the mouth.

"Eww, stop the kissing!" Mary said as she squeezed my legs tight. I chuckled against Chato's lips as I pulled away and scooped her up in my arms, seeing her bright green eyes there pouring into my own.

"Are you going to help me with dinner, _Chere_?" I asked her now with a playful grin, seeing her giggle. With her father's beautiful smile and tan skin, and my freckles and bright eyes, she was beyond perfect to me as she snuggled into my arms around some more.

"Spaghetti?" She asked me.

"Of course, what else would we have?" I asked her now as the three of us walked over to the kitchen table there with the ingredients. I left the package there on the countertop, forgetting about the scribble there on the top and how it looked like it went through hell and back. But as we walked away, I looked over my shoulder one more time at the package, seeing the signature there on the top of the package from who sent it.

 _Harley and The Joker._

The End.

* * *

Author's Note: That's all she wrote! Thanks for reading the story and loving it! I maybe so a small sequel later some time in the future, I'll think about it! You guys are amazing and great! Thanks for the support and love!


	36. Sequel!

SOOOO I wrote a small sequel. I couldn't help it!

Here it is:

s/12149889/1/Fierce-like-Fire


End file.
